


For Love of Sarah

by Latte



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Happy Ending, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-07-20 16:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 101,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latte/pseuds/Latte
Summary: Sarah thanked God she’d taken the precaution of covering Toby for their escape through the fire.  It was all that saved him from being burned too.  But the window explosion knocked her back until she bumped into her dressing table.  As she lost her footing, her shoulders hit her mirror and suddenly she fell backwards.  The weight of the boy in her arms and her backpack over one shoulder caused her to over-balance.  But when she fell, she didn’t land on the floor of her burning room, instead she slid through an opening in the mirror and moments later it closed behind her.  Just as quickly as the chaos of the fire had erupted, it disappeared. There was nothing but darkness and quiet as Sarah tumbled downwards headfirst.Takes place 6 years after The Labyrinth





	1. Coming Storms

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

It was almost 3 am on a cool May morning when Sarah Williams parked her car in the driveway of her family home. She hadn’t visited since Christmas break and missed Toby dearly. Cora McVee, one of the four US Marshals assigned to give the college student roving protection while at Boston University, was in her passenger seat.

“You go in, I’ll check in with the outside team. According the the schedule, Sam Johnson is on duty with your folks. Lock-up behind you. I have my keys.” The 20-ish appearing blonde, with a shoulder holder under her blazer, waited to be sure her charge made it in the house safely. 

“Thanks, Cora, I really appreciate that you were willing to come with me.” Sarah readjusted her backpack that hung over her left shoulder and absentmindedly waved to the car with Federal plates that was parked in front of the residence. There had been one stationed there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and other teams protecting the Williams children for the last six months. Robert, their father, was the lead prosecuting attorney in a high-profile stock fraud case that was believed to have mob involvement. No one was taking any chances with the safety of him or his family.

Sarah was exhausted, which may have been why she didn’t notice that the officers in the vehicle didn’t acknowledge her greeting, or missed the quiet pop of a silenced hand gun, when she closed the front door. A man had stepped out of his hiding place behind the bushes and killed Cora as she neared the surveillance team’s black SUV that contained the dead bodies of her co-workers.

Maybe Sarah didn’t notice those things because finals were over, and college graduation was only three days away. It had been a very stressful six months living with Federal protection and trying to maintain her GPA. Instead of joining her friends celebrating, she’d driven 200 miles, worried and shaken, haunted by a premonition that Toby was in danger. No matter how much Cora and the team in Boston had tried to reassure the college senior, she’d insisted on making the trip. 

She stood on the landing halfway up the stairs and let her muscles relax. All was quiet and safe. A quick look into the darkened living room showed a man sprawled on the couch. She’d rushed home for nothing. With a smile on her face, she noiselessly made her way to the second floor and down the hall. Sarah didn’t want to be around when Cora McVee ripped Sam Johnson a ‘new one’ for falling asleep on the job.

Her father and stepmother had kept her room just as she’d left it when she went off to college three and a half years ago. Her tiny apartment, not far from campus, felt more like home to her, but this room would always be special, because it was where she grew up. Granted, it had gone though some major changes in the last six years. Gone were most of her toys and costumes. She’d packed them away the summer after she turned fifteen. About the only things that remained were the basic furniture, her Escher print and a few stuffed animals she couldn’t part with. Though if she were honest, she’d admit that hidden in the back of her closet, where no one would see them, were her music box and a statue of a magical Goblin King. Those two things, along with her Labyrinth book, she’d been unable to pack away completely.

“Sarah, is that you?” Her brother’s head popped up from the pillow when he heard the door open. Toby had been curled in a ball in Sarah’s bed with Lancelot clutched tightly in his grip.

“Sure is, Big Guy.” She put her backpack down and gave her brother a hug. “What’re you doing sleeping in here? You’ve got that brand-new bed and a great room down the hall. It’s got to be more comfortable than this old one of mine.”

“I had a nightmare. ‘Sides Mom and Dad know I like to sleep here so they gave the Marshals my room to use as an office. Mom set up the inflatable mattress for you on the other-side of the bed.” He rubbed his eyes and nodded toward the floor. “I hope you don’t mind.” Sarah’s room always made him feel safe and it wasn’t just because it belonged to his sister, though that was a big part of it. The night he’d lain on her bed crying because she’d moved away to college he’d made a discovery. He’d met her friends who lived in her mirror. Ever since then, whenever he was lonely or afraid, he’d gone to Sarah’s room and talked to Sir Didymus, Hoggle, or Ludo. 

“You can sleep here anytime you want. Since I’m only going to be here two nights. The inflatable will be great.” Sarah sat on the bed to reassure him and kissed him on the forehead. “What did ya dream about?” Even though it had been six years since it happened, she worried that her brother might retain subconscious memories of being wished away to the Underground and the time he’d spent there. It was something they’d never talked about and she hoped he’d never discovered.

“I don’t remember.” The boy scrunched up his face. “I just woke up scared. You won’t tell anybody, will you?”

“It’ll be our secret.” Sarah smiled and pulled her favorite book from her purse. “Do you want me to read to you so you can fall back to sleep?” She 

“Yeah, that’d be neat.” Toby grinned as he watched his sister caress the cover of the old red book. It was too dark in the room to read, but both young people knew Sarah didn’t need to see the printed pages to tell the story. She had committed it to memory long ago, but both found the battered old text comforting to be able to see and touch. 

Just before she began the story, Sarah heard the loose board on the steps creak and ignored it, thinking it was Cora going to bed. 

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl, whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. The young girl was kept as a slave, but what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he’d given her certain powers.” Her voice always cracked when she recited that part. Had he loved her? Was that what it had been about? She knew she loved him, even as a child of fifteen she’d known, but it had been an innocent love and he had overpowered her senses. It had broken her heart to say what was necessary to get Toby back. She was just thankful that, at the time, she hadn’t realized her words would destroy Jareth. Sarah knew she cared for him deeply. It was why she never dated. Her heart belonged to a tall blonde Fae King, whom she’d killed six years ago and it always would. Why bother with lesser males who held no interest for her? “So, one night when the child had been particularly cruel to her she called on the Goblins for help.”

“Say your right words,” the Goblins said. “And we’ll take the child to the Goblin City and you will be free.” Toby always laughed and clapped when she imitated the Goblins. Not only did her voice change, but she hunched her shoulders and pulled her long hair over part of her face until only her eyes were showing.

Suddenly a loud crack-bang filled the air, then another and another. The house shook and the windows exploded outwards. Shockwaves from three carefully placed explosive devices pounded against solid surfaces and turned the quiet home into an inferno. Sarah was knocked across the bed and Toby’s head was thrown back to hit the headboard. Lancelot slipped from his hand and landed on the floor next to the Labyrinth book that had fallen from his sister’s grip. The last thing Sarah remembered seeing was the view from her window of the street below. She shook her trying to focus because it looked like Cora was sprawled on the road in front of US Marshals’ SUV. What she saw didn’t make sense, but she would worry about it later. Her head hurt and darkness clouded her vision.

The concussive force from the blasts stunned Sarah until violent coughing shook her awake. Her room was filling with smoke and her brother lay motionless beside her “Toby,” she shrieked as she shook him. The house was on fire and she had to get them out. “Toby, answer me!” she choked out, but he lay unresponsive on the bed.

More smoke was filling the room and flames licked at the walls. In a moment of panic, she picked the boy up and clasped him tightly to her. His chin was supported on her shoulder and her arm was wrapped around him. She used her free hand to rip the blanket off the bed and cover him from completely to protect it from sparks that were flying everywhere. Without a thought, she slipped her backpack over her shoulder as she stood, and turned towards the window, her closest means of escape.

The glass had been blown out, and she was planning to climb down the tree to safety, but two feet of fire danced in the frame, fed by oxygen from outside. Turning quickly, she headed for her door, but holes were being eaten through the sturdy wood and she could hear the sound of crashing on the other side as the rest of the house was falling to pieces. In her mind’s eye, she could picture a blocked and burning corridor as she touched the door to test it as she’d been taught in first aid class. Her primary exit was hot and getting hotter all the time. There was no safety in that direction. She knew she was screaming, because a high-pitched noise filled her ears and almost drowned out the heat and roar of the flames.

From somewhere deep inside of her, a magical name filled her mind. For one wild moment she wondered if she could call again to the Goblin King and he would protect them. But as quickly as the frantic thought came, she remembered the impulsive lie she’d told to win Toby back, six years ago, and killed Jareth in the process. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks, unheeded. Instead of calling his name, she prayed silently to his memory, ‘please help me have the strength to do what needs to be done.’  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Far away in a land to which only a select few could journey, a Goblin King turned restlessly in his sleep. A feminine voice whispered through his dreams and then was blocked by fire and fear. It brought him awake with a start. Someone within his realm of power was in trouble and needed him. He threw aside his covers and before his feet hit the floor he assumed owl form. With a flap of great white wings, he soared out the window and deep into the night. But no matter how carefully he searched the Underground, there was no evidence of smoke or flames and all his creatures appeared asleep and content.  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Sarah tucked away the image of mismatched eyes that were burned into her soul and concentrated on what needed to be done. She turned and headed once again for the window. There was safety on the other side of the wall of fire, which had replaced the blown-out glass. Going thought it would singe her hair and burn her skin but already the ceiling was turning black from heat in the attic. If she didn’t get them out soon, they would die, because her movements were growing sluggish from smoke inhalation. It was only a matter of time until she lost the ability to think and passed out. If that happened, when the ceiling caved in and the beams fell, she and Toby would be buried beneath tons of burning rubble. 

When she’d almost reached her window, a pop and crack of bursting wood exploded in front of her. Red-hot splinters bit into her arm, chest and neck. She thanked God she’d taken the precaution of covering Toby for their escape through the fire. It was all that saved him from being burned too. But the window explosion knocked her back until she bumped into her dressing table. As she lost her footing, her shoulders hit her mirror and suddenly she fell backwards. The weight of the boy in her arms and her backpack over one shoulder caused her to over-balance. But when she fell, she didn’t land on the floor of her burning room, instead she slid through an opening in the mirror and moments later it closed behind her. Just as quickly as the chaos of the fire had erupted, it disappeared. There was nothing but darkness and quiet as Sarah tumbled downwards headfirst.

She gripped tightly to the blanket-covered bundle that was her little brother. She was disoriented and frightened. Her scream echoed around her as they fell deeper into a black pit. The air was cool after the fiery heat of her room and she shivered as it touched her burned skin.

Suddenly she felt hands reaching for her. They were everywhere trying to break her fall and catch her. She didn’t know which was worse: the fear of hitting the ground or the pain caused by gripping fingers as they held tightly to her badly damaged skin. Finally, her downward motion was under control as the hands lowered her carefully by the arms, waist and legs. She gasped at how familiar it all felt as they passed her from one level to the next. She’d done this before, or was it a recurring dream? She didn’t know, and stopped caring as they finally let go of her and she slid the last three feet to a stone surface. All the while they made soothing sounds, “hush it’s all right. You’re safe now.”

“Noooo,” she knelt on the cold floor and hugged Toby, still wrapped in his protective cocoon, to her breast as she rocked him. Tears tracked down her soot-covered face and her mind couldn’t take in all that had happened to her in the last few minutes.

“What’s the matter, Miss, didn’t you want to go down?” Two blue hands at eye level formed themselves into a mouth and talked to her. “We were only trying to help.”

“Not again, not the Labyrinth, again,” she wept. “Please I can’t do this, not without….not without…him,” she whispered, afraid to say the King’s name for fear her heart would break. She knew he’d died when the rocks had tumbled and he’d disappeared six years ago, taking a piece of her soul along with him. He was still in her dreams and thoughts, even all these years later. The impulsive game she played by wishing her brother away to the Goblins had had far reaching effects that she was still feeling. It was the one thing she would do differently if she had her life over again, because it had cost her in ways she was still discovering.

“’Course it’s the Labyrinth, where else would it be?” A pair of green hands shaped like a mouth kept on talking. “When you come from above like that, there is no place else you could end up.”

“Oh God,” Sarah staggered to her feet, with her brother in her arms and ran down the dark corridor. She had to find the oubliette with the ladder to the surface. Too many memories haunted the tunnels that ran beneath the world of the Underground. If she spent much time in the darkness, she knew she’d be lost forever trying to find a way to undo the damage she’d done six years ago.

“Come back, Miss,” green hands called out to her, but she didn’t pay any attention.

“All she had to do was wait until we got a message to King Jareth. His Majesty would have come for her.” One green hand and one blue hand continued the conversation between themselves. “I guess she didn’t want a helping hand.” They all chuckled at their joke and never thought of Sarah again

As she ran, Sarah could hear the hands chattering and laughing among themselves, their voices indistinct and growing more so as she ran around one corner and then the next. Finally she was in the corridor of the False Alarms, but this time they appeared to be nothing but rock shaped faces. No deep voices called out to her to ‘turn back,’ or that she was ‘going the wrong way’. She stood for a moment and studied them carefully, afraid that they had died when Jareth had. Then the one on the end began to snore and she noticed that if she looked carefully she could see dust moving on the ground below each of them. It rose and fell with a regularity that reminded her of breathing. They were sleeping soundly, so Sarah walked carefully past, Toby still held in her arms. 

When the sparkling black walls that surrounded the Alarms became a curved brick tunnel, she felt a chill run up her spine. The last time she’d been there, Hoggle had been with her and Jareth had been waiting for them. This time no crystal rolled down the path to jump up and land in a beggar’s out-stretched basket. But the basket was still there, along with an old hat, mask and a blanket. 

With a trembling hand, Sarah picked up the blanket and shook off the dust. It was as bright a blue as it had been six years ago. When she held it to her nose it still carried an unmistakable fragrance, like the one that had always clung to the Goblin King. She breathed deeply once more and shivered as she remembered being held in his arms as they danced. That was when she’d first realized he smelled of moonbeams and magic. Her fingers tightened on the material and she looped it through the strap of her backpack to take with her. Now both she and Toby had something to keep them warm at night.

If she remembered correctly, what she was looking for was down the next corridor. She put the blanket out of her mind and forced herself to go on before fatigue overtook her. A few minutes later she reached her destination. The wall was still caved in from where she and Hoggle had shoved at it to get away from the cleaners. The ladder was still leading upwards for as far as the eye could see. Sarah’s legs gave out in exhaustion. She’d gone as far as she could until Toby was awake enough to climb by himself. She laid her sleeping brother on the ground beside her and straightened the blanket she’d had him wrapped in since she woke in a flaming room. With a sigh she let Jareth’s blanket settle around her shoulders and could almost feel the presence of the last person to wear it, the vibrant, captivating Goblin King. As she curled up next to Toby she stopped trying to fight thoughts and emotions that had been bombarding her since landing in the Underground and cried herself to sleep, with her body curved protectively around her little brother’s.  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

  
At dawn a large white barn owl landed on the balcony of the King’s chamber in the Castle beyond the Goblin City. As he morphed into human form Jareth used an extra moment of invisibility to dress, a thing that he hadn’t done in his haste when he’d woken in the middle of the night.

His flight had taken him over every inch of the Goblin Territories and a little bit beyond into the land ruled by the Elves, but he’d found nothing amiss in his Kingdom. There was only one other possibility, but he’d dismissed it the night before, because the feeling of danger had distinctly come from one under his power. He had no reason to search the Aboveground, since no one lived there who bowed to his rule. If things had been different, that would have been the first place he’d have looked.

He conjured the crystal that held Sarah’s dreams and studied it carefully. He could see himself holding her and she was gripping tightly to him, as well. A sensual smile crossed his lips as he gazed at the dream she was having about the two of them. Once or twice in the last year he’d watched them make passionate love in the confines of her dreams. But those dreams were new, a logical progression of her feelings for him as she matured. And they gave him hope that someday she would come back to him.

He’d been watching Sarah for years, even before she wished her brother away. For a long time he told himself it was fascination with a human who believed entirely in his existence, when all that was logical in her world would have denied him. It was only after Jareth met her that he was forced to face the ramifications of his feelings for a being so different from his kind. Love with a human would be messy and intense. Very unlike the simple lust he had always preferred. At first he’d been furious. That was why he’d been so harsh with her when she was forced to fight for Toby.

When he had been left standing alone in the ruined Escher Room, emptiness had crept in so he’d followed her to the Aboveground. That night as he’d watched her dance with her friends, emotions of longing and love had swept through him. It was those emotions that had guided some of his actions in the last six years. His love for Sarah was why he refused to marry, when the High Court suggested that it was time for him to settle down and provide an heir for the Goblin Kingdom. A year later when their suggestions became demands, he’d stood his ground and refused them again. He would have the woman of his choice for his Queen, or none at all.

In an unprecedented move, the High Court had backed down. Jareth was a popular, strong king and his people believed and trusted in him utterly. All knew it would have been civil war should attempts have been made to replace him. 

Now, he looked again into the sphere in his hand and studied its occupants. As they turned he could see that the hold he had on the woman in the crystal was tender, not erotic, and that the tears running down her face weren’t ones of joy, but sorrow.

With a sigh he realized that this couldn’t have been what had woken him in the night. Even if Sarah had had a nightmare and in her dreams had turned to him for comfort, it wouldn’t have called to him across worlds, because no matter how much power she had over him, he yet had none over her. She had told him so six years earlier and that hadn’t changed. It wasn’t the answer he was seeking but he couldn’t help watching for a few more moments. Tenderness softened his face as he saw himself kiss away her tears and hold her closer. 

As the pain of what he was seeing became too much for him, he disbursed the crystal, but not before he murmured, “Soon, my love,” to the vision hidden in the depths of finely crafted magic. “Soon you shall be in my arms where you belong. Then I will once again turn the world upside-down for you.”  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Sarah, wake up, Sarah,” Toby shook his sister’s arm. They were alone in the dark. He didn’t know where they were, but had an awful feeling that things would never be the same again. “Please, Sarah, wake up.”

“Ohhh!” She cried as she sat up, more asleep than awake. Past and present had met in a head-on collision. She had been dreaming she was in the Labyrinth again, but there was fire everywhere. Then Jareth was by her side and he’d been holding her and kissing away her pain and fear as his voice echoed through her thoughts.

With a shake of her head she forced herself awake. Dream separated from reality, but as pain returned to her mind and her body, she would have much rather continued on with the dream. “Oh, God, Toby,” she gasped as she pulled him close and held on tightly. “It was all real, the fire, the fall, all of it.” ‘Most of it anyway’, she added to herself as she pushed all memory of the Goblin King out of her mind, no matter how soothing it was.

“What happened?” The boy looked at his sister and tried not to feel scared. “Where are we and where are mommy and daddy?” He snuffled against her neck. He could feel the tears coming and he hated it. He was a big boy of almost eight, and in his opinion only girls cried.

“I’m not sure. I think there was an explosion.” Sarah pulled from deep within her to be strong. Her brother needed her. If she fell apart he would too. “The last thing I remember was reading to you and the house shook and bursting into flames. And…Cora…” A memory from the night before made her flinch. “After the explosion I saw Cora laying in the street. I think she was dead.” Her lungs hurt and her voice was croaky from all the smoke she’d breathed in the night before. Her skin felt crisp and burned along her arm, neck and chest.

“But Marshal Sam and his men were supposed to protect us.” Toby wiped his eyes on the hem of his pajama top, leaving a smear of soot across his cheek. “Did mommy and daddy get out?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. It was only a small lie, but at the moment she couldn’t face the fact that they were both probably orphaned. She knew her dad and stepmother. Nothing would have stopped either parent from getting to their children if they’d been physically able to do so. If they’d been alive, one or both adults would have been pounding on Sarah’s bedroom door when she and Toby were trying to find a way out of the fire.

“Hey, Big Guy,” She smiled at her brother. “Are you strong enough to climb that ladder over there?” She pointed to the only way she knew out of the room they had slept in.

“Sure,” he grinned, glad to have something to take his mind off the fire and his parents. “Where does it lead to?”

“I’m not 100 percent sure,” she folded the blanket Toby had slept in and stuck it in her backpack, using up the last little bit of space that remained. Sarah looped Jareth’s under the straps to use as extra padding and then slung the pack over her uninjured shoulder. “I’ll tell you more when we reach the top.” She nodded for Toby to start climbing. Before he could go more than one rung, Sarah stepped onto the ladder. Her arms were at the same level as his and her body was around his as protection in case he slipped, as Hoggle had done all those years ago, should a rung break. It was a long climb, but it was the only way out.  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

  
“How much further, Sarah?” Toby felt as if he’d been climbing for hours and the rungs hurt his bare feet and hands.

“I think I see the top now.” She squinted into the dark and hoped she was right. The muscles in her arms throbbed from carrying the dead weight of her brother the night before and something was very wrong with her left arm. She knew she had burns, but it was more than that. It felt as if she’d been stung by bees from her elbow to her hand and a few places on her shoulder and neck, but she needed more light to see what was wrong. 

Finally, Sarah’s head brushed against a hard surface. She pushed against it and heard it slide. The sunlight and fresh air that streamed in made her blink. “Go on ahead, Toby, but be careful. Once you’re through the opening, there is a drop of about three feet until you’re on the ground.”

“Wooh…this is so cool,” the boy gasped as he got his first good look around. “It’s magic isn’t it?” He could hardly contain himself as he watched his sister crawl out of the top of an urn, which was only a few inches wide at its base. It was impossible that they’d come up through it, but they had.

“Oh, goodness,” suddenly Sarah felt fifteen again. She slumped against the side of the pot and just looked around her. They were exactly where she’d feared they were.

“Wow,” Toby danced over to the sundial. “Sarah, this thing has thirteen hours on it! That means….that means….gosh, we’re in the Underground!”

“I’m afraid so,” she slid to the ground with her back against the urn. Both she and her brother were covered in soot, though Toby was a little cleaner because when the fire had first broken out she’d covered him with a blanket. But unfortunately, he’d only been wearing his Captain America pajamas at the time. Sarah considered herself lucky that she’d still been dressed in jeans, tank top, and her sturdy boots. She reached up and undid the cardigan sweater she’d forgotten she’d tied loosely around her waist before leaving her apartment, forever ago.

“Why afraid?” Toby was bewildered. Sarah had read that book to him hundreds of times; he’d figured she would be as excited as he to see the place for real. Especially since he knew that she already had friends that lived here.

“In the Labyrinth, things aren’t always what they seem.” She bit her lip when she remembered Jareth saying those words to her. She hadn’t meant to repeat them, but somehow they’d just come out.

“That’s okay, but I want to see…”

“Toby!” Sarah cut him off as she searched through her backpack. She was tired, thirsty, and in pain. Now was not the time to get into all the reasons why they shouldn’t be where they were. “Here, drink some of this.” She handed him the liter water bottle that she always carried. “And eat one of these.” She held out one of the protein bars she’d packed before leaving her apartment. She was thankful she’d been too sick with worry to eat or drink anything on the drive to her parents’ house. It looked like she and her brother were going to need whatever rations she had squirreled away to stay alive until she figured out a way to get them home, or even if it was safe to do so.

“But Sarah, look, we can see the Castle beyond the Goblin City. It’s way in the distance beyond those hedges. I bet we could walk to it.” He pointed with the bar he’d just taken a big bite out of. “That means there really is a King and he can grant wishes.”

“And turn little boys into Goblins, too!” Sarah burst into tears. Her past had come back full force to haunt her and she didn’t know if she could take it anymore. It was too much after last night. She gave into tears to help wipe away immediate feelings. Given some of the creatures she’d met during her last visit here, she wanted to have her little brother out of the Labyrinth before nightfall.

“Aaahhh…” Toby gulped and rocked back on his heels. “No, wait; he only does that if someone is wished away.” For one terrible moment the boy froze. He had no idea how they’d gotten to where they were. “You didn’t wish us here did you?”

“No, Big Guy, I wouldn’t do that.” She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten into the Underground, but she was positive she hadn’t wished them away. Wishing was something she’d given up six years ago when she realized the damage it could do.

“Then how did we get here?” 

“I don’t know.” Sarah shook her head trying to clear it. Those last minutes spent in the fire where fuzzy. “I was trying to get to the window, but the smoke and flames were everywhere. Then suddenly sparks were flying. They hit my arm. I feel backwards and just kept on falling,” she muttered as she examined her damaged left arm.

“Well, all the more reason we need to get to the Goblin King. He can use his magic to mend your arm and then he can send us back.” Toby nodded; sure he had a plan that would work.

“I don’t think he grants those types of wishes.” Sarah fought to pull herself together.

“We could try.” Toby said firmly, and stood up. “We could wish it. What harm could come from one small wish? Then he’d have to help us.”

Sarah stared at him in shock. If he knew the truth, he wouldn’t be asking silly questions like that. “I’m only going to say this once,” her voice cracked with unshed tears. “We’re in the Underground: it is a magical place. The rules are different here. We have to be very careful what we say and do. You must never, ever start or end a sentence with ‘I wish’.”

“But the Goblin King can use his magic to protect us from those men…those men…Above.” He couldn’t say the words, though somewhere deep inside of him he knew his parents were dead.

“We’re safe here with or without his powers,” she whispered. “Besides he isn’t here anymore.” It was the closest she could get to telling her brother that she’d killed Jareth six years ago. The child wanted badly to believe, so she would let him. She was sure their parents were dead; she didn’t have it in her to take away Toby’s hero, too. 

“How do you know?”

“I just do, that’s all, and you’re just going to have to believe me.” She wiped at tears she could no longer control. “You have to promise me, just in case I’m wrong, that you’ll stay away from the Goblin City and especially the castle.”

“But…” He wanted badly to meet the King, but the mention of him seemed to frighten Sarah and he didn’t think he’d ever seen his sister afraid before. He was well acquainted with the pictures his sister had drawn in the margins of the Labyrinth book. The king didn’t look so frightening there.

“No buts, Toby, I need to get us somewhere safe and I can’t do it without you.” She gripped his shoulders and pulled him close to her. Intellectually she knew that Jareth had been destroyed, but emotionally she’d always felt his presence. Now that they were back in his Kingdom, the feeling was stronger than ever and she wasn’t taking any chances with her brother’s safety.

“All right, Sarah.” Toby pouted. He’d do as she asked, but she hadn’t said a word about not trying to contact Hoggle, Ludo or Sir Didymus. He planned on keeping his eyes peeled for them. They were his friends and he couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t be missing him sometime soon. It was only a matter of time until they come looking for him. 

“Thank you,” Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Now, would you help me get these slivers out of my arm?” She held up the tweezers from her Swiss Army Knife. As the sun rose higher in the Underground sky, the Williams children sat drinking water and eating a protein bar each as they worked to get ten nasty chunks of the window casing from Sarah’s room out of her left arm. There was nothing they could do about the rest of her burns except keep them covered with her sweater.  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

  
They were blissfully unaware that authorities were, at that moment, pulling two bodies from the shell that was all that remained of their house. They were spared the discovery that Karen and Robert Williams hadn’t died of smoke inhalations, but of gunshot wounds to the head, as had Cora McVee, Sam Johnson and his team. They never learned that the murders and bombs, which had ripped through their home, had been an attempt to destroy evidence, as well as dissuade witnesses. And they never knew that Toby and Sarah Williams were declared dead, their bodies apparently incinerated in the blasts that had triggered the fires.  
 ****

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“Cone on, we need to get going.” Sarah had repacked her backpack and hefted it onto her right shoulder. Her entire left arm was swollen from the poking and prodding that had been necessary to get all the splinters out. She turned and headed away from the Goblin City. She wasn’t taking any chances with her brother.

She was surprised when a few minutes later they came across Wiseman’s chair. It was empty. She tried calling to him, but he didn’t come, nor did she get a wisecrack answer from his Hat when she called for him. She and Toby walked for hours, but in all that time didn’t see one living being. There were no odd footsteps heard behind her. No little men who came to the surface and flipped over tiles as they walked past them. No wild animals howling in the wind and no laughter and singing from deep in the woods. Nor did they discover doors with strange beings that were alive instead of inert ornamentation.

It was late afternoon when Sarah and Toby finally, came to a small farm on the outskirts of a tiny village just over the boundary of the Labyrinth. Both young people were covered in dust, which added to the soot from the fire the night before made them look like a pair of beggars.

“Just a second, Big Guy,” Sarah knelt beside her brother and pulled the water bottle out of her pack. Using a clean t-shirt and some of her precious store of water, she went to work cleaning up his face. “If we want whoever lives there to help us, we have to look a bit more respectable.” She sat back on her heels and nodded when she could once again see Toby’s freckles.

Making herself more presentable was going to be a bit of a challenge. She knew there were burns on her face, arms, chest, and shoulders. Her left arm was still a mess from all the splinters, but she needed to be cleaner if they were going to have a chance of finding a night’s lodging, so she gritted her teeth at the pain and went to work. 

“Who’s at my gate?” A voice called from the house twenty feet away. Sarah had been concentrating on washing away soot and dirt as painlessly as possible. She hadn’t noticed the door open, nor the woman standing half-hidden in the shadows. “Be gone with ye, I don’t allow beggars on the Queen’s property.”

“Queen’s property?” Sarah gasped. She’d never thought that Jareth might have a Queen. How was she going to face the widow of the man she’d killed? Worse yet how was she going to face the rest of her life knowing Jareth had never really loved her, but had been using her?

“We’re not beggars,” Toby ran forward, unsure why his sister looked so sad, but knowing he needed to do something about it. “We…well, we’re travelers who’ve lost our way.” He nodded, liking the sound of that.

“Come closer, both of you,” the voice from the shadowed doorway ordered.

Sarah stood and squared her shoulders. She’d deal with her conflicting emotions later. Now she needed to secure a place for them to sleep and maybe buy some food. Reaching out a hand to Toby, they moved through the gate together.

“Humphf, you’re from the Aboveworld.” The woman who stepped out of the door was about Sarah’s height. She had long brown hair that was pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.

“You’re an Elf,” Toby gasped in delight when he spotted her slightly pointed ears.

“Hush, that’s not polite,” Sarah whispered and gave her brother’s hand an extra squeeze. “My name is Sarah and this is my little brother, Toby.” 

“And you’re very observant for humans.” The woman crossed her arms across her plump body. “Your brother, you say. What are ye doing here? You on the run from the King?” She nodded toward Sarah with a quick look at Toby. “I don’t help those who ‘wish-away’. They get what they deserve.”

“No, no,” Sarah gasped. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

“Do I?” The Elf met Sarah’s gaze head on. Things were not what they seemed with the human woman. It didn’t take magic to see that something was amiss. “Then how’d you get here?”

“We don’t know.” Sarah was exhausted and needed help badly, or she would have left. The Elf seemed to know too much about things that she would rather leave locked in the past. “We were caught in a fire and somehow fell here.”

“The fire part I can see for myself.” She nodded at their soot-covered clothes and the damage to Sarah’s skin. “Well, come in. My name is Ellamora. I can make you a poultice to take the pain outta those burns. It’ll help ‘em heal, but I’m not the one you need to see if you want the scars removed. Only His Highness can do that.”  
****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

  
Jareth, the Goblin King, sat behind his desk in the large office off his throne room and rubbed his eyes. He’d gotten very little sleep the night before and all day long something had been nagging at him that he couldn’t place. But he had work to do so he spent the day behind his desk. That was where he did most of the real business that was involved in running the Goblin Territories.

With a sigh he went over next year’s budget one more time. The last-minute expense of stress cracks beginning to form on the surface of part of the Labyrinth’s extensive aqueduct had been an unpleasant surprise. Since he refused to defer maintenance on any of the structures that were needed for the activities of daily living in his kingdom, it was necessary to make a few adjustments to his figures. When he’d taken the throne, the Goblin budget had been running in deficit for years. Getting it balanced had been his first official priority as King. It had taken him a century to accomplish, but he’d done it, and this year wasn’t going to be any different, if he had to stay up all night.

He took a break from business to lean back in his chair and sip the cognac that had been on his desk since dinner, an hour earlier. In a moment of weakness, he conjured his favorite crystal again. It was the one he’d offered Sarah Williams six years ago. It contained her dreams, usually not the ones that filled her sleeping hours, as it had in the early morning when he’d looked last, but the ones that filled her heart. As he breathed deeply of the heady fragrance of the amber liquid in the snifter in one hand, he looked with heavy-lidded eyes into the crystal in his other hand.

Jareth smiled at what he saw. The two people deep in the interior of the sparkling sphere were always the same, but over the years the dream had changed. In the beginning it had been Sarah dancing with him as they had in his ballroom when she was fifteen. As she had matured, in real life, so had the woman in the dream, until she was now a lovely adult. The scene that met his eyes tonight was of Sarah held in his arms. One of his ungloved hands held her shoulder as she kissed her way up his neck.

“Your Majesty?” A tall slim sandy-haired Fae stood in the doorway to his study. “I’m sorry to disturb you at this late hour.”

“Galen, what are you still doing here?” Jareth quickly disbursed the crystal as he addressed his aide and best friend. “I sent you home to your wife and child, hours ago.”

“Yes, but I had a visitor.” He approached the desk, a look of worry on his face. “A dwarf by the name of Hoggle came banging on my door. It seems he needs to see you on an urgent matter and the castle guards wouldn’t bid him enter. He came to me for help.”

“Did he say what he wanted?” Jareth felt a rumble of disquiet shake the Underground, but couldn’t identify it. This, added to his unusual dream, made him uneasy. 

“No, he would only speak to you.”

“Give me few minutes and then show him in.” When he was alone again, he took a moment to let his magic wander through his Kingdom searching for whatever was amiss. But all he found was a deep longing for Sarah. It was almost as if he could feel her presence. He shook his head and chided himself for letting his imagination get the better of him. He was out of time and refused to let the pesky dwarf catch him unawares, so the King carefully schooled his face into the mask of calm indulgence he wore when dealing with his subjects. 

“Your Highness,” Hoggle bowed slightly and removed his cap. It was hard for him to come to Jareth. There was no love lost between the two beings since Sarah had been in the Underground. Both cared deeply, but in different ways, for the human female, both considered feelings for a woman a sign of weakness so they’d kept them to themselves, and both blamed the other for her return to the world above.

“To what do I owe the honor of this visit?” Jareth’s words dripped with sarcasm. He was jealous of the dwarf, but it was something he’d never admit, even to himself. Sarah had kissed the little man, and it had torn at his heart. The King had always known that the human female was fated to be his Queen, even as he’d denied it. His denial had been why he’d been cruel and unfair to her when she’d been in the Underground. His actions had been his undoing, but he was too proud to admit it. By some miracle she’d grown to love him in their years apart, he was certain of it. Now she loved him as deeply as he’d always loved her. The dream he’d viewed moments ago was what was in her soul now, not days or months or years ago. He just needed to find a way to get her back to him. Maybe the dwarf could be of use to him in this matter.

“The portal is gone!” Hoggle gasped.

“To what portal are you referring?” Jareth didn’t want to admit he’d left an opening through Sarah’s mirror for her friends years ago. When she’d said the words that took her away from him, it bound his magic so he could only see her dreams in the crystal he’d made for her, or go to her in owl form. Her friends were free to use the portal whenever they wished. He loved her too much to take that away from her, even if it excluded him. Until she called to him by name and accepted his power over her, he was forced to be an onlooker in her life, never a part of it.

“You knows what portal I’s talking about.” The dwarf frowned, maybe Ludo had been right and it had been Jareth’s doing after all. “The one in Sarah’s mirror, Ludo tried to look through it this afternoon and couldn’t find it. We’s been looking all day. We’s finally found a cracked and melted surface, but it’s solid as a rock. We’s can’t even see through it, and there’s no way we’s could get through it.” 

“Are you sure you’re looking in the right place?” Jareth had been towering over the little man, but as he heard what was being said his legs felt suddenly weak and he was forced to sit on the edge of his desk if he wanted to retain any dignity at all.

“Of course!” Hoggle shouted, but his anger dissolved when he took a good look at his King. He’d never seen Jareth as anything but strong and intimidating, but now the ruler was pale and worry ghosted his mismatched eyes. “I knows the Labyrinth like the back of my hand. I knows where to look, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Hoggle. I’ll look into the matter.” He nodded in dismissal.

“Your Majesty, could yous let me know what you finds out?” When he looked at the Fae King, the dwarf finally realized that his monarch loved the human woman. “I’s her friend, you knows,” Hoggle whispered. He didn’t know which surprised him more, the idea that Jareth had a heart, or that the powerful man would let it show.

“Of course,” Jareth’s voice was rough with emotion that he was unable to hide. It would take great power to destroy the portal; if Sarah had been anywhere nearby at the time of its destruction, it would have killed her.

As soon as the dwarf was out of the room, Jareth conjured a different crystal. He knew when Sarah had denied his power she’d blocked his magic. In the past, pride had kept him from ever attempting to see her when he knew that it was impossible, but tonight was different. The disappearance of the portal coupled with his dream of the early morning was too much of a coincidence to ignore. “Show me the human world. Show me Sarah, right now,” he commanded. But as he expected, he was only able to see fog. In frustration, the King sent the uncooperative crystal crashing against the wall. Before the shards could hit the floor he’d changed into owl from and was winging his way out of his tall office window. 

Hoggle was almost all the way down the castle steps when he saw a large white barn owl fly out of a window and head high into the evening sky. For the fist time in his life, the dwarf wished the bird good hunting.

In the Aboveground it was a dark moonless night, but Jareth’s sharp owl eyes saw the burned-out shell of a house that was all that was left of the Williams home from far away. The area spoke to him of violent death. He sensed destruction before he was close enough to smell the stench of burned wood and flesh that still emanated from the place. The tree outside Sarah’s bedroom window where he had sat on countless nights watching over her sleep was blackened and its leaves shriveled from intense heat. His only hope was that she had been away at the ‘other place’, where she’d been living the last few years. 

He took human form as soon as he flew through the window and gasped at what he saw. The room, like the outside of the house, had been caught in a holocaust of flames. He discovered immediately why Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus had been unable to locate the portal. All that was left of Sarah’s mirror was a dried puddle of cracked baked-on glass on the blackened floor.

Jareth looked around grimly. “Oh, my dear girl,” he whispered and shook his head. “What happened here and why didn’t you call to me?”

As he moved through the room, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of his boots on the charred remains of Sarah’s possessions. He knew enough about fire to know he’d discovered the source of his nightmare from early that morning. Though it made no sense, for he had no power over Sarah. She had told him so in no uncertain terms six years earlier. The stab of fear that had wakened him had come from someone who was very much within his power, or he’d never have felt it. Jareth shook off the questions that were bothering him. He had to be sure that Sarah had not been caught in this house when it went up in flames.

There was odd yellow tape marking off the room, which carried warnings from the law enforcement agency of the Aboveground. None were to enter the premises, but he didn’t care. He was a Fae King and he went where he pleased. 

For a moment he closed his eyes and let his magic search the world of man for her presence. It was how he’d found her when she’d moved into the huge group living situation when she’d first left her father’s house and then again when she’d moved to the small abode that gave her privacy, but had little else to offer, as far as he was concerned. Nothing…he could feel nothing of the gentle essence that was his Sarah. 

“No!” He cried out and dropped to his knees. He refused to believe that she was not of the human world any longer. “No,” his voice was raspy as he began a frantic search for anything that was left that had belonged to her. 

Finally, his clothes covered in soot, Jareth moved aside what was left of her bed. His heart stopped when he found Sarah’s Labyrinth book, buried beneath a singed Lancelot. He gripped the bear in one hand and the book in the other. Less than a week ago he’d watched as Sarah read herself to sleep in her small living quarters, in the city where she was attending school. She had been reading from that very book that night. He’d also stopped in to check on Toby as he always did when he visited Sarah. The youngster had been sleeping soundly in this very room, with the bear held tightly to him. It appeared as though both Sarah and her brother had been here when it burned.

Pain exploded in the Goblin King and he acted without thinking. One quick swipe of his hand and the portal between his world and the Aboveground was opened. He soared to his feet and jumped though. As he materialized on the other side he dropped both the bear and the book and used two hands to form a powerful crystal spell then threw it at the offending portal with all his might. The clouded, cracked surface that was at his feet popped and jumped as it locked, shriveled, and disappeared for all time, sealing forever any and all human portals between the worlds. Now the only one that was left was the ancient one and not all the magic in the Underground could touch that one. It had been created at the beginning of time, for the passage of a white barn owl and wished-away children. Beyond that, the worlds were severed.


	2. Nothing is What it Seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six years after wishing Toby away Sarah and her brother are swept into the Labyrinth when tragedy strikes. She thought she'd accidentally killed the Goblin King all those years ago. Now in the Underground they need to learn to survive and Sarah comes face-to-face with her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer** I own nothing but the DVD.  
>  **Notes** When I first wrote this story I had an excellent beta, but over the years I have lost contact. Any errors from re-writes are mine and the new chapters are un-beted.
> 
> **Note 2** _Monoceros_ is a constellation in the shape of a Unicorn. It is located in the spring sky south of Gemini and east of Orion. I’ve used it as the name for the animals that are produced when unicorns are bred with horses.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Ellamora had shown Sarah and Toby to the bathing area at the back of the cottage. “Don’t want you tracking dirt through my nice clean house,” was all the explanation she’d given as she handed the boy a small shirt and a pair of trousers that were cut in much the same style as Sarah remembered Hoggle wearing. “The bath is that way, young man.” She pointed behind a screen. “Just tell the tub to fill and you’ll get all the water you need. Let it know if the temperature isn’t to your liking and it’ll warm up or cool down. When you get out, it’ll empty itself.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he practically skipped around the screen in his excitement at the idea of a magic bathtub. 

“Hump,” the Elf looked Sarah over from head to foot. “You can’t go around dressed like that, it isn’t proper. My daughter left some things behind when she married. They should be a close enough fit.”

“I’ve got a change of clothes right here.” Sarah hugged her backpack for dear life. It was all she had from the Aboveground and letting go of it didn’t feel right. She had planned on staying with her parents for the weekend and had packed accordingly so she didn’t feel the need to impose by borrowing anything to wear.

“Girl, you’re in no position to be arguing with me.” The older woman put her hands on her hips and shook her head. Young people were the same no matter what world they came from, always wanting everything their own way. “You’re hurt and exhausted and need a place to heal. I’m offering it to you, as long as you’re telling me the truth. I don’t protect those who wish-away - never have and don’t plan on doing so now.”

“I didn’t…I mean, I’m not…” Sarah stammered and gripped the blue blanket that was strapped to her pack, seeking reassurance. “Our house in the Aboveground burst into flames. We were trying to get to a window to escape, when I slipped backwards and just kept on falling. Somehow we ended up here.” She had been thinking about it all day as she and Toby walked. When she was younger, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo used to visit her through that mirror. Her last vague memory in the fire had been of her hips hitting her dressing table and her shoulders the looking glass above it. Had a passageway to the Labyrinth been open in her room all that time? It was a question she didn’t dare ask, because then she’d have to explain how she knew about the Underground in the first place. She and Toby needed somewhere to stay until they were straightened up, and questions like that would only get her into trouble.

Ellamora nodded as she watched doubt and worry fill the girl’s eyes. “You must have found a lost portal. It happens from time to time.” She shrugged. “Someone leaves a door open to one of the other worlds, and then forgets to go back and close it.” That explanation made more sense than the two human children running from Jareth, but since he was the only one with the power to keep a portal open for any length of time, he had to be behind it somehow. The Elf knew the Goblin King could be harsh when dealing with humans who were negligent with their children, but he wasn’t the type to use fire to terrorize them. He preferred much more subtle techniques. The girl was hiding something and becoming more of a puzzle all the time. If she had some mischief in mind, best to keep her close by. 

“Be that as it may,” she added and got back to the subject of the girl’s clothes. “While you are under my roof, you have to live by my rules, just as my own daughter did.”

“All right,” Sarah could feel tears welling up in her eyes at the unexpected help she was getting. “I’ll gladly accept the clothes. Toby and I do need some place where we can figure out what to do, thank you, ma’am.” Her experience in the Underground, six years earlier, made her wary of its inhabitants. She hoped she could trust that Ellamora’s kindness was just that. “Why are you willing to help us?”

“I have a daughter of my own.” The Elf smiled as she though of her beautiful child. “Back when I was young, I fell in love and married a handsome Fae man. Our Marilee was smart enough to do the same. Those two young people have got a child and are as happy as can be. But if things were different and she found herself alone, stuck in one of the other worlds without her magic or her man, Galen, to protect her, I like to think that there is someone out there who would do for her what I’m doing for you.” It was mostly the truth. Ellamora wasn’t going to mention the close ties she had to the Royal Family, or the fact that the bright blue blanket, which was strapped to Sarah’s backpack, was giving off magic like a beacon in the night. The Elf knew exactly to whom it had belonged. She had given it to him as a young Prince. “You go help your brother while I get some clothes so you’re decently covered and some herbs to take the sting out of your bath water. Once you’re cleaned up, we’ll see about getting your burns tended to properly.”

While Sarah was kept busy helping the boy, Ellamora sent a brief message to the manor house over the hill, letting Her Majesty know of the two newest beings on Corramar Estate. There was something unusual about the girl, almost as if she had a familiarity with the Underground. Ellamora stood shaking her head and tried to convince herself that the two humans who showed up on her doorstep, one a nice young boy and the other a lovely young woman, who in moments of stress clutched the corner of King Jareth’s misplaced blanket as if it were the only secure thing in an insecure world where not the beginning of trouble.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Sarah could hear Toby chattering away to Ellamora while she bathed and she was almost too tired to care. It had been a painful process washing all the dirt and soot from her injured skin. The Elf was right; she did need a place to heal, though Sarah wasn’t sure that anywhere in the Underground would give her enough peace of mind to be able to do that and she feared whoever had destroyed her childhood home might still be looking for the two Williams children.

She slowly and painfully climbed out of the bath. Much to her amazement, the water began to empty as she walked over to the chair where a loose-fitting light blue dress was waiting for her. She slipped the dress over her head and sighed with relief when the material settled comfortably against her skin. The garment was a simple A-line design. Its scooped neck just missed the bottom of the burn that reached from under her chin to her collarbone and the sleeves were long and full enough to cover all the marks on her left arm, without binding. She was in pain, but the damage was mostly covered. The hem reached the floor and was just the right length for walking once Sarah pulled on her boots, which gave her an extra inch of height. 

After running a comb through her still damp hair, she quickly put it into a French braid. Years of wearing it that way made it easy to do without a mirror. She would face her reflection tomorrow when she had had some food and sleep. Tonight, she wasn’t up to it. It had been bad enough cleaning her burns and then discovering the damage to her hair as her fingers twisted it into the simple pattern that hung down her back.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Rain pounded on the thatched roof of Ellamora’s little cottage. The storm had come up out of nowhere and struck with a fury that was hard for the humans to understand.

“It’ll pass,” the Elf assured them. “Be glad you’re not out in it. When magic is thrown around like that, nothing is safe.”

“Magic, that storm is caused by magic?” Toby took another spoonful of the delicious stew they’d been served. “Wow,” he hoped Sarah would let them stay in the Underground for a while. The experiences of an enchanted bath, and magical storms, made him want to see what else this land had to offer. 

“’Course, you don’t think weather like that’s natural in these parts?” The Elf nodded towards the window. “Haven’t seen the likes of it for going on six years. His Highness usually keeps a tight reign on his feelings. It is most unlike him to show his emotions so openly. He’s worked himself up into a real snit tonight!” She shook her head in worry. 

“His Highness?” Sarah whispered. “Something like this happened before?” Suddenly she lost her appetite and carefully laid her spoon down beside her bowl. She had no desire to hear more about the Ruling Family or who had mourned Jareth so publicly all those years ago. 

“Yes, the Royals of the Goblin Kingdom have always had a passionate nature, though it usually stays within the walls of one castle or another.” Ellamora leaned back in her chair and watched both humans speculatively. The Elf was struck with the feeling that Sarah knew more about the Underground than she was letting on, but that made no sense. The girl wasn’t mean or cruel, not the type to wish away her brother and the children obviously loved each other. There was still the question of how the humans had gotten into the Underground. Only a being with the power of the Goblin King could leave a portal open for any length of time. He wouldn’t have simple forgotten about it, despite what Ellamora had led Sarah to believe. If it was open to the above world, he did so for a reason.

Guilt washed over Sarah. The look in Ellamora’s eyes haunted her. In a rush the human pushed back her chair and walked to the window to gaze out at the storm. What she saw was strangely compelling. Part of her wanted to step out into it and let herself be wrapped up in the furious night. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the windowpane. Suddenly she was held captive by emotions that sliced straight to her heart and carried her far away. She’d drifted like this before, six years ago, but then she had ended up in an enchanted ballroom; this time she was being carried to a place that only existed in her dreams, because Jareth was there.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Standing with weather raging all around him, Jareth shook as the presence of Sarah brushed past him. It was so strong it touched all his senses. But it wasn’t the Sarah he’d known six years ago, this time it was the woman of today who tantalized his emotions and grabbed his heart. For one moment it was as if she were alive, and very close.

As quickly as his hurt and rage had started, it ceased and he was filled with a great emptiness. The remaining wind buffeted his body but he didn’t care. The elements were nothing compared to what he’d lost. All that was left of the human girl he’d loved for so long was a small brown teddy bear and a battered red book. He leaned to pick them up before he pulled a crystal from the air and let it transport him back to his castle.

Moments later he appeared in his office, behind the Throne Room, and for the first time in his long life wasn’t sure what to do next. As a King, uncertainty could mean the loss of a Kingdom, but as a man it was a cause for despair. 

With a wave of his hand the fire in his fireplace sprang to life, but he didn’t feel its warmth. He sat in the winged-back chair beside the hearth, but he didn’t feel the plush material that surrounded him. At a loss for something better to do, he opened Sarah’s Labyrinth book. In owl form he’d sat in the tree outside her window on countless nights and watched her read from it. The well-loved old text had always appeared to give her comfort; maybe it would do the same for him.

When he opened the book he gasped at what he saw. On the inner cover and a number of the pages Sarah had drawn pictures. The first was of him as he’d appeared in her parents’ room the night she wished Toby away. He went through the book page by page and as the story progressed, he found careful illustrations of Sarah’s adventure through his Labyrinth.

It was what he found between the last page of the book and the back cover that rocked his emotions and lit his temper. There was a piece of paper that had been creased and folded years ago. With careful hands he opened it and spread it on his lap. There before him were more pictures. The largest and the one that held his attention first was of him offering a fifteen-year old Sarah the crystal that held her dreams.

The artist in the girl had drawn the jagged rock background with exquisite detail. There was no doubt in Jareth’s mind of when and where it had taken place. She had drawn him exhausted and almost beaten in the broken Escher Room. This had been his last stand. What made it hard for him to breathe was what Sarah had placed in the crystal. There as he’d seen it any number of times was her dark head resting gently on his shoulder. Both beings were smiling, happy and together. Above the picture she had written Sarah’s Dreams and in the corner was the date. She had drawn that picture the night she’d returned from the Underground.

She’d known! The implications sent him reeling. She’d known and she’d lied to him that night. All he could do was focus on the one picture. He failed to see the others on the page. The one Sarah had drawn of herself, leaning over Toby’s empty bed, worried and afraid, with sorrow etched on her face. He never even glanced at the one of her dancing in his arms in an enchanted ballroom, with joy filling her eyes. Joy that she’d felt but had been too frightened to admit existed, there at the end when she’d had to make a choice. But most importantly, all he saw was her betrayal, not the pain it had cost her to say the words that had taken her away from him.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Sarah…” Ellamora’s hand was on her shoulder, pulling her back to the present, the cottage and reality. “Where did your mind go to, child?” The worried look on the Elf’s face told the human that it wasn’t the first time her name had been called.

“I’m sorry. I’m tired. I didn’t mean to ignore you.” She shook her head and forced a smile. She glanced back over her shoulder at the unexpectedly quiet room. Toby had his head on the table and was almost asleep in his chair. “I’ll put my brother to bed, and then be back to clean up. The meal was wonderful, thank you.” She knew she was talking to cover her unease, but couldn’t help it. For one moment the Underground had worked its strange magic on her. She couldn’t let it happen again.

“Don’t you worry about the dishes; they’ll take care of themselves.” The Elf nodded at the table and a moment later all the plates, bowls and cookware were neatly stacked in the cupboard in the kitchen. “When I retired, Her Majesty made sure I had every convenience that magic would allow. Now you run along and see to your brother, but be sure to come back. Those burns of yours need to be properly wrapped for the night.

Sarah guided a sleepy Toby up the stairs to the loft room that they had been given. There was a large old bed tucked under one side of the dormered ceiling, and an empty basin stood in front of a window which looked back towards the Labyrinth, with the castle in the distance. The rug on the rough wooden floor was braided from scraps of colorful material that gave the room an inviting feel. Though there was a small fireplace on the far side of the room, tucked under the other slanted eave, Sarah didn’t think she’d ever be able to light a fire in it. The crackle of burning wood and smell of smoke were no longer safe, homey things associated with cold Sunday afternoons and winter holidays spent with her family: instead they evoked memories of pure terror.

“Sarah,” Toby sighed as he let his sister help him into bed. “I miss Lancelot.” He’d slept with the bear for so long that his arms felt empty as he curled under the covers.

“I know, Big Guy,” a lump formed in Sarah’s throat as she gently ran her fingers through fine blonde hair that had fallen over her brother’s forehead. “I’ll stay with you until you fall sleep and once my arm gets bandaged, I’ll be sleeping right here beside you.”

“Thanks, Ellamora’s nice, but it’s not the same.” Toby didn’t want to think about all that had been lost when a firestorm had swept through their home. There was a soft hum in the air that smelled like magic and it made him feel safe. His sister was with him and he knew as long as she was around they would be all right.

Sarah’s shoulders drooped as she walked down the stairs to join Ellamora in the kitchen. The Elf had her herb kit laid out on the table, fresh bandages and a bowl of water waiting for the girl.

“Sit yourself down, child, the sooner I get your burns taken care of the sooner you can get to bed.” Her deep brown eyes looked Sarah over carefully through the wire rims of her glasses as her gentle fingers rolled up the sleeve on the human’s left arm. “You got any burns in places I can’t see?”

“No,” Sarah smiled. “These are more than enough. I appreciate all you’re doing for my brother and me. Not everyone here is so kind.”

“It sounds to me as if you’ve had a run-in with some of the less hospitable beings in the Underground.” Ellamora added a small amount of water to a mortar filled with herbs and then began to grind them into a paste with a pestle.

“Well…ah…”

“No need for you to be polite.” The Elf talked on as she worked, relieving Sarah of the need to do much but listen. “There are those that only the King can keep in line. And those that should know better, but don’t. They forget that not everyone new from the Aboveworld is the same. It’s been a long while since the realms were connected. I think it comes from always being on the look-out for those who ‘wish-away’. Nasty, mean-spirited humans, they are. You can’t ever trust them, so the creatures that make their homes in the actual Labyrinth are just naturally stand-offish.”

Sarah was spared having to answer when a loud clattering on the road made Ellamora get up and look out her window. “Just as I thought,” she nodded as she watched the covered carriage and horses rush past. “Her Royal Highness, Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins is heading for the Castle beyond the Goblin City. She’ll find out what was behind the storm we were treated to at dinner. That boy of hers has given her all five of the gray hairs she’s got. He’ll be the death of her yet.”

“Her Royal High…” Sarah breath gave out and she couldn’t finish, the implications were too great. Jareth’s widow had just passed by, making it impossible for the human to deny her existence any longer.

“’Course, this is Her Majesty’s property, these are her lands. The village over the hill is for the families who have been in service to her family for generations. I was her nanny when she was a child, and her lady’s maid as an adult. When she was the reigning Queen we lived in the Goblin Castle. And what a place that was, what a time we had.” Ellamora grinned happily. “But the good times weren’t to last. The King, may the Seven Crystals of Oberon protect his essence, was killed and my Lady retired to Corramar, her ancestral properties, to raise her wild beasts and keep a not too distant eye on her even wilder son.”

“When did…what happened to the King?” Sarah whispered. She had to be sure. “How long ago was he…?”

“Killed,” she finished for Sarah. “’Cause that was what it was, though it was made to look like an accident. It was a while back,” the Elf shrugged. Time was irrelevant, since she’d stopped counting the years when she’d turned 1500 years old. She doubted any human would understand that for those in the Underground two centuries was like yesterday. “But oh how he loved my Lady!” She shook her head at the memories. “And Her Highness loved him. Most Fae keep their feelings to themselves. They say it isn’t proper, especially for a King and Queen, to let their emotions show. It can make them vulnerable, but not those two, it just made them stronger. What a pair they made, beautiful, blonde and so much in love. Some say it was his intense feelings for her that killed him so young, that all that passion burned him out, but it wasn’t like that. It was lies and treachery, plain and simple. Nothing else could have brought down a Goblin King.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Jareth paced his office, working himself up into another temper. The betrayal he felt when he had looked at the six-year-old drawings Sarah had hidden in her Labyrinth book had opened up old wounds. She had rejected him at the same time she loved him. It was impossible. He was a Goblin King; lesser beings didn’t reject him lightly, but this snip of a girl had, and she’d known of his affection for her and if her drawing was to be believed, she returned the feelings. The heartless creature had used his affections to win her brother back, and then thrown them back in his face.

But as quickly as ideas swirled in his mind, he rejected them, unable to reconcile this new information about Sarah with years of seeing her innermost dreams and aspirations. Nothing fit; nothing except the guilt that nibbled at his heart when he pictured the blackened destruction of her bedroom. Could he have prevented her death the night before, if his pride hadn’t made him treat her so harshly when she’d been within his grasp? If he’d told her the truth, that her brother wouldn’t be turned into a Goblin, but returned home, no matter the outcome of her journey through the Labyrinth, might her answer have been different? 

“Jareth,” his mother calmly swept through the door to his office. It was apparent that her son was working himself up into another temper. She knew he had a passionate nature, but that he was careful to keep it hidden most of the time. His loss of control was one of the reasons the emotional storm he’d caused earlier in the evening had worried her enough to bring her out at almost midnight. “What has happened?”

“Nothing you need worry yourself about, mother.” He shrugged and tried hard to gain control of his features.

“It could hardly be nothing given the intensity of that storm that just passed, or the one that you’re brewing now.”

“Damn!” He slammed his gloved fist on the edge of his desk. “I am King, do I have no privacy?” he roared, and slammed his fist on the wooden surface again.

“Oh, my dear,” Livia said softly and covered her son’s hand with her own. He was hurting as she’d never seen him hurt. Now was not the time to tell him that he couldn’t expect something to remain private when he’d shouted it so publicly. “Please let me help you.”

“There is nothing you can do unless you can bring life to the dead, or undo the past.” With a hand that shook he ran his finger over the surface of the pictures that Sarah had drawn. “I am powerful enough to be able to reorder time in simple ways. I can remove minutes or even hours from a day, if they haven’t happened yet, but I can’t move it backwards to prevent a tragedy, no matter how terrible.” He took a breath to once again gain some control. Then he smoothed the paper beneath his fingers and handed it to his mother.

“This is the girl?” she gasped. “The one from six years ago?” The woman’s eyes went immediately to the picture that Sarah had drawn of the crystal ballroom. The Fae woman recognized the look of love on the young girl’s face as she danced in the arms of the Goblin King. “What has happened that you are in possession of these pictures?”

“She died last night when a fire raged through her home in the Aboveground. Both she and the brother she fought so hard to save are dead.” His words came out thick and gravelly like ground glass. “It was murder. The house and lane reeked of it.” 

Livia froze when her son talked of fire. The message she’d received just prior to the storm breaking told of two Aboveworlders who were now staying at Ellamora’s cottage. Both were human, one a young boy and the other his sister. They claimed to have fallen into the Underground when their home was destroyed suddenly in a fire.

“Are you sure?” It was a hard question to ask and would be harder for her son to answer, but if there was any chance that the visitors were not in the Underground by chance, it was necessary to find out. 

“Yes, mother, I’m sure!” Jareth turned quickly and resumed his pacing. “I found these in the blackened remains of her bedroom.” He handed her the book, the picture and the bear. “She never went anywhere without it, and the stuffed animal belonged to her brother; she’d given it to him six years ago. If either of them were alive, they would have those objects with them.”

“That’s not proof, maybe they could be alive somewhere else.” Livia began to hope that the two who were with Ellamora were more than just lost travelers. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise, but she wasn’t going to say anything to Jareth until she was sure of not only the identity of these strangers, but their intentions regarding her son. She was still haunted by the treachery that had killed her husband when the Goblin Territories had been in negotiations over the disputed eastern valley that bordered on the Dwarf Lands.

“That was my first thought, as well,” he whispered. “When I found those things I hoped, I needed to believe, that she had escaped or just hadn’t been there, so I used magic to search the world of man for her. I found nothing, no trace of her, not even a lingering thought remained that Sarah Williams had ever lived. Her immediate family must have died in that fire or I would have been able to feel the memories of those who loved her but were left behind.”

“It looks as if she didn’t forget you, any more than you have forgotten her.” She smiled as she looked carefully at the drawings that had been folded in the book. 

“It looks as if she lied to me when her thirteen hours were up!” The Goblin King’s fury broke and shook the windows.

“Please, dear, it frightens the staff when you do that.” Livia touched his arm lightly. His rare displays of emotions always caught his subjects by surprise. “Of course she lied, but all you have to do is look at this picture and you can see what it cost her to speak the words.”

“Cost her? I don’t think so, mother.” He stood tall and proud. “I always knew she was cruel,” he nodded toward the drawing of her rejection of him. “That was her final act of cruelty, but it was her undoing as well. If she’d stayed here she would be alive today, and a Queen.”

“Queen? You would have made a human Queen?”

“It was my intention, once she matured to court her.” His voice was hollow and empty.

“If you loved her that much, then you must see that she wasn’t cruel.” Livia looked again at the anguish on the face of the human girl. “Spirited and stubborn most likely, but she’d need that if she were going to spend forever with you. I know you well enough to realize those were probably things about her you admired. Even when you had to deal with them first hand they would have interested you. I’ve seen the contempt in your eyes for the simpering females who would do your every bidding to gain your attention.”

“This is hardly an appropriate subject. The woman is dead.” Jareth didn’t want to listen to his mother’s logic. “I just wish I’d been allowed to believe the lie that she appeared to be and mourn her as a woman I cared for, rather than to have discovered this.” His finger shook when he pointed at the pictures. “This deceit. She only used my emotions to get back what she’d foolishly wished away.”

“Oh, my dear, you’re letting your sorrow blind you.” Her heart was breaking for her son. He was confused and in pain. “I realize that Fae women usually have their first liaison at fifteen, but Sarah was human. They tend to be a bit slower to understand the importance of pleasure in life.” It seemed like only yesterday to Livia that she’d been standing at a ball and looked up into the very blue eyes of Mesmer, Prince and heir to the Goblin Throne. She had been the human’s age and she’d never looked at another male again.

“I know all that, you forget I deal with these humans on a regular basis.”

“Then tell me, which of these two pictures is a true representation of what she looked like six years ago. They show a human female at very different stages of maturity.”

For the first time Jareth looked carefully at both drawings on the page. In the ballroom Sarah appeared as almost a woman grown. Her waist was slender and the gown she wore fit tightly over rounded breasts and slim shoulders. The cut of the bodice showed off her creamy skin to perfection. He remembered how difficult it had been to keep her at a distance when they moved around the dance floor. His hand at her waist had ached to move lower and cup her buttocks, driving her body hard against his. He remembered how he’d tightened his grip on her hand and held his head straight and his muscles tight to keep from burying his face in her hair and neck. The need to taste her skin while he worked his way to her lips had been almost overwhelming. In the ballroom Sarah had looked every inch a woman and he’d had to fight the desire to make the other dancers suddenly vanish, so that he could have peeled away her dress and sampled all of her.

When he looked at the picture of their final confrontation in the Escher Room, he was ashamed of the prurient feelings that consumed him. The girl in that picture was young, her body as slim as a boy’s. The oversized shirt and vest she wore hid any womanly curves that had begun to form. Her hair was thick and lovely, but she wore it straight like the school-girl she was. The only thing the two versions of Sarah had in common was their obvious innocence.

“They are both her,” Jareth whispered, unable to take his eyes off the truth. “When I first took her brother, she challenged me bravely with the strength of an adult. It was how I expected her to act and when she didn’t I called her spoiled and tormented her at every turn. I resented it when she acted like the young girl she was. In the ballroom she looked the part of a woman, but ran from me like a child. I should have known. How did I miss it?”

“You missed it because you’re a king who is used to getting his own way, which is as it should be. A king who isn’t obeyed isn’t much of a king. And because you wanted her, despite her youth and innocence. It’s no crime,” she smiled gently. “If she had been Fae, it would have been expected. As King, you must find a virgin bride, and Sarah would have been perfect. The only question that remains is do you care for her or the illusion of her? Which Sarah are you mourning?”

“What does it matter, I’ve lost her forever.”

“It matters a great deal,” Livia smiled sadly. “Your father has been dead for two hundred years. My love for him is as strong and sure as it ever was.”

“Mother, you speak of this emotion, love, as if it were like in the old myths. The ones from the time when beings from all the different worlds lived in the Aboveground. You speak as if you believe that our essence was joined with another’s at the time of the worlds’ Creation.” He had come to realize it was how he felt about Sarah, but knew it was politically unwise to admit it to anyone, even his mother. It was why he’d fought the High Court to remain single far beyond when he should have. He’d been waiting for her to be born and then grow up. It had been a long wait, which due to his pride and her lie six years ago, had ended in tragedy.

“My dear,” she smiled and caressed his cheek. “How could you have been raised by your father and me and not understood that is exactly what I believe. You’re a product of the passion that exists between two who are truly joined forever.”

“Somehow I doubt that telling the High Court I’m a ‘product of passion’ will satisfy them the next time they decide to concern themselves with my marital status.” Jareth sighed and wondered how long it would be until he was forced into giving up his Kingdom rather than entering into a marriage of convenience. His feelings for Sarah were so strong it felt to him as if she were alive and very close by, though he would never admit it. The idea of taking another woman as his wife was impossible to contemplate.

“Your position with the Court is much stronger than you realize. Though it was wise of you not to tell anyone the truth six years ago.” Livia may have been reduced to Dower Queen, but her political acumen was as sharp as ever. “Your skill at running the Goblin Territories, as difficult as they are to manage, isn’t the only reason the High Court backed down. Even a strong, well-liked king can be replaced. The attempted coup that took your father’s life, during the dispute with the dwarves, 200 years ago should have proven that to you. It is your ability in dealing with humans and their tangled emotions that the Court knew it could not replace. The wished-away children that you bring back are necessary to our dwindling population.”

“Humans are simple, uncomplicated creatures,” he was surprised that anyone would think otherwise, but glad to have his mother change the subject. “There may be a few that cause a bit of a muddle.” He nodded toward the book she was holding. It was evident he thought Sarah was the exception to the rule.

“Not to most of us they aren’t. Even my darling Mesmer, may the Seven Crystals of Oberon protect his essence, found them difficult and hard to understand.” Livia opened the Labyrinth book to the picture Sarah had drawn of Jareth as he’d first appeared to her. “But you, look at you. If there is any truth to this picture, you frighten those who deserve harsher treatment and are the product of imagination to those who only need a warning. You deal with them as no Goblin King ever has. You know instinctively which child to take and which to ignore. You are responsible for finding Fae homes for human children who were unwanted and hurt. Both our races have benefited from your work.”

“Mother, it is part of the responsibility of being Goblin King, nothing more, nothing less.” He was uncomfortable having his mother speak of him as if what he did was something special. 

“Don’t look upon your talent lightly. There were nights Mesmer would pace the floor worrying that he’d taken a child who had only been wished-away in a selfish moment, or worse, that he’d relented and left behind a child who would be harmed. But you know the difference: you can read these humans.” Livia stopped and frowned as she gazed at her son and the pictures Sarah had drawn of him. Something was wrong with the entire Sarah situation. Her son was too knowledgeable at what he did to make the mistake he appeared to have made in taking the child.

“I find it odd that one of my greatest failures should make you comment on my great understanding of humans.” He looked over her shoulder at the drawing of him dancing with Sarah in the enchanted ballroom and wondered how he’d missed the loving look on the girl’s face all those years ago.

“You knew? You knew the second you confronted this girl that she never wanted her brother taken or that she’d never harm him!” It was a revelation that solved many questions. Jareth had never been beaten in the Labyrinth, no Goblin King had. “You took the child and made his sister run the maze, when you had no intention of keeping the babe. You even helped her. That’s how she won?”

“Mother!” Jareth tried to appear properly scandalized at the suggestion. “It would be against everything I stand for to give aid to a human who had wished away a child!”

“But you did it nonetheless,” she shook her head and smiled. “After all, you couldn’t very well keep the babe when it was the girl you were interested in, and you were – don’t try and deny it.”

“All I did was keep her safe. It would hardly be seemly to have the future Queen’s head bounced around by Fireys or to have her smelling like the Bog of Eternal Stench.” He shrugged, finding it easier to play the role of King than to admit the reason for his actions. “Besides, I wanted to teach her a lesson. Threatening to take the boy wouldn’t have been enough.”

“You’re in love with her and you were then. Why can’t you admit it?”

“She interested me.” He refused to say the words out loud. In his experience words held power beyond belief.

“It was more than interest.” Livia patted his arm. “It was your feelings for her that wouldn’t let you see her as the woman-child she really was.”

Jareth sighed as he leafed through the pages of Sarah’s Labyrinth book. “I find it ironic that this book has no ending.” He smiled sadly. “The story stops when the girl confronts the King. It lets the readers make up their own minds as to what happens. Maybe it would have been better if it had ended there for me as well.”

“Oh, my dear, give yourself time. I know this is very hard for you, but there may still be something you’re missing.” Livia kissed her son on the cheek and left. She had a visit to make on the way home, a stop at a small thatched cottage that belonged to an Elf whom she’d known all her life.

Jareth leaned back in his chair and sighed. He was missing something all right, and he would for the rest of his long life. Out of habit he pulled Sarah’s crystal from the air, but stopped himself before he held it to the light. Once he looked in the magic sphere and saw only gray shadows where before there had been dreams of the future, it would lock the door on any hope he had that somewhere, somehow, she lived.

“My love,” he whispered as he cupped the crystal with both hands. “You will be forever within my heart.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Ellamora, Sarah and Toby took the shortcut over the hill behind the Elf’s cottage. They had been summoned for an audience with Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins. The note that had arrived mid-morning had been worded politely enough, but Sarah was wise enough to know it was a command, not a choice. The three of them had been invited for tea with Her Highness, and Sarah a private audience first.

“Now, girl, remember all I told you.” Ellamora said for the tenth time since they’d started out. “You’ll be in the presence of Royalty and expected to act like it. I know that not all you Abovegrounders are familiar with the concept.”

“But I don’t understand why I have to meet with her alone.” It took all her effort not to add, ‘it’s not fair’.

“Because that is the way it’s done, child.” The Elf was discovering that even though the human girl appeared exhausted and wounded from her ordeal, she was extremely stubborn. “And it’s not just you Her Highness wants to meet, but your brother as well. You just get to go first.”

When they crested the hill, a castle with tall turrets and stately gardens lay nestled in the valley below.

“Well there it is, Corramar, the loveliest piece of land you’ll ever see, in any of the seven worlds.” Ellamora pointed to the place where she’d grown-up and had worked for a good part of her life.

“She…”

“Her Majesty, Her Ladyship, or Her Highness, never ‘she’.” The Elf corrected Sarah gently as the girl stood awestruck staring into the distance. 

“Oh…yes…sorry…” Suddenly it became very real to Sarah. She was going to face Jareth’s widow. The thought of all that involved made her dizzy just to think about it. Then a flash of brown and another of blinding white caught her attention, as two animals raced in a fenced-in pasture behind one of the outbuildings of the castle. “Her Highness, raises horses?”

“Well, not exactly horses,” Ellamora, grinned. “What do you get if you cross a horse with a unicorn?”

“Pardon?” Sarah blinked. For a moment she wasn’t sure if the Elf was trying to tell a joke from the Aboveworld, or if she was being serious.

“Wow!” Toby gasped. He’d been quietly listening to the adults talk and couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. “You mean the Queen raises some kind of Unihorse.”

“Land sakes, young man, don’t let anyone hear you call them that.” The Elf laughed. “They are special animals, only bred here. Her Majesty’s father was Master of the Horse for the old King, back when her Ladyship was a child. It had been his dream to create a new breed of animal. Unicorns have magic, but their temperament makes them unpredictable and wild. They refuse to be ridden by anyone, even the Fae lords whose powers are the strongest in the Underground. The Horse Master believed that a successful mating with the proper horse would create a new strain, one that had both stability and magic. Monoceros is what he called his new breed.

“The big white animal in the corral is a unicorn. I can see the sun flash off his horn from here.” Toby jumped up and down in his excitement. The magic of the Underground was working its way into the boy’s system and taking away his hurts. Unlike Sarah who was fighting to keep it out, the child had embraced it and was looking and feeling better.

“You are very observant. His name is Moonbeam and he belongs to the present King, who caught him in the wilds and raised him from a colt. That unicorn always knows when His Highness comes for a visit, almost as if their magic speaks to one another. He can be a bad-tempered brute but will eat an apple right out of His Majesty’s hand, though he won’t let anyone up on his back. It has been rather hard on the King’s posterior.” Ellamora smiled at Jareth’s many attempts to ride the wild beast. 

“Is that a horse in there with him?” Sarah smiled as Toby kept asking all the questions she wanted to ask, but couldn’t get past the lump in her throat.

“Yes, that’s Magic. Her Ladyship named her that when Moonbeam chose the filly a year ago. That stallion had been giving everyone fits. It was past time to breed him, but he turned up his nose and pranced away like he didn’t have a care in the world whenever he was presented with a likely candidate. Then about a year ago, one of the handlers accidentally left a young sable-coated filly in his exercise pasture. The unicorn threw a regular temper tantrum, but he didn’t harm her. Next thing everyone knew, the big white brute was prancing around showing off like a peacock, but Magic was too young to mate, and didn’t have a clue what was being asked of her. Somehow Moonbeam realized it and settled back to wait and watch over her. Well, his time of waiting is growing to an end. Magic will come into season sometime in the next month or two.”

“It sounds like a love story.” Toby crinkled his nose. Love stories were for girls, and not something that interested him. He didn’t plan on doing anything mushy like falling in love, ever!

“I guess you could say it is.” Ellamora smiled softly. “If any animals know about love it would be the unicorns. They mate for life. Once those two animals join, Moonbeam will become more possessive of Magic than he already is. If you want to meet them, better do it now or there will be no getting near her unless you win him over first. If he already trusts you, there should be no problems later.”

“Moonbeams and magic…” Sarah could only stare as she felt herself surrounded by the scent of the Goblin King.

“A fitting combination,” Ellamora responded cryptically. “We’ve dallied long enough. You go in the front way, girl. I’m going to take Toby to the kitchen. Her Majesty’s cook is a friend of mine. We can help to prepare the tea.” 

Sarah’s hand shook as she knocked on the great door of the castle. She had no wish to meet living proof that all her dreams of the last six years were a lie. The King had been acting a part to win her brother when he pretended that he cared about her. She should have known and if she’d been older, it would have been clear. He was a powerful Fae lord, what would he want with a fifteen-year-old girl? Even knowing that didn’t change the way she felt about him, but she wished it did. Her guilt over his death was intensified knowing the man she couldn’t get out of her heart belonged to another.

The elderly goblin who answered the door led Sarah into a drawing room. Late afternoon light flooded the spacious room from several large windows, but it was the radiant Fae woman sitting with her head bent over her needlepoint who captured Sarah’s attention. Her rose satin dress with long full skirts accented her blonde loveliness.

Sarah blinked back tears when confronted with the Dowager Queen’s beauty. She was an excellent match for Jareth. They must have been a striking pair. For a moment Sarah was embarrassed. The idea was laughable that she had thought that this woman’s husband might have looked with affection at the gangly girl she had been, when he had his Queen with her soft womanly curves and graceful manner waiting for him at home.

“Your Majesty,” as the butler’s clear ringing tones announced their presence, Sarah bit her lip and prayed for strength to get through the necessary meeting. “The spinster, Sarah Williams, wishes an audience with you.”

Soft blue eyes lifted from an intricate needlepoint pattern to meet the girl’s green ones. Livia was careful to keep her face blank of any emotion, though she wanted to blink in surprise when confronted with a living, breathing version of the drawings she’d seen in Jareth’s office the night before.

Sarah quickly averted her eyes and stepped forward to curtsy as Ellamora had taught her. She tried to remember the careful instructions on proper court etiquette she’d been given by the Elf. One of the most important had been to not speak until spoken to.

“Thank you, Chazel, that will be all.” the Queen nodded to the butler and waited until the doors were closed behind him to acknowledge the human. “You may rise, girl.” She had no intentions of making this meeting easy on Sarah. Information was needed and the sooner the better. It was only a matter of time before Jareth learnt of the two newest inhabitants in the Underground. If these Abovegrounders planned trouble they would discover the Dowager Queen to be a formidable enemy.

“Your Majesty,” Sarah whispered and tried to look the other woman in the eyes, but failed. She knew she was at a disadvantage in her ill-fitting borrowed dress, with her left arm wrapped to protect burn marks that were slowly healing into scars and the long angry red blister that went from her chin, down her neck to her collar bone. But the sooner the meeting was over, the sooner she and Toby could get to work trying to find a way back home.

“Ellamora Kilhaggen tells me that you’ve recently arrived in our small village.” Livia looked the girl up and down unable to take her eyes off her. A queen could stare and it wasn’t considered bad manners, but Livia doubted the girl would take much comfort in that fact as she watched her pick nervously at the skirt of her poorly tailored dress. She had no doubts about the stranger’s identity. It was her intentions that were in question. “And that you have no memory of how you got here.”

“That’s correct, Ma’am…ah…Your Highness. One moment my brother and I were trying to get out of our burning house, the next we were falling.” Sarah’s eyes darted around the room, unable to meet the piercing blue ones that seemed to look into her soul. They came to rest on a life-sized portrait that hung over the fireplace to the right of the Queen’s shoulder. There was no mistaking the joyous couple that had been captured in oils for posterity. The male was tall with wild blonde hair. He was slim and proud in a striking blue frock coat and breeches that fit him like a second skin. His beautiful face was filled with love as he gazed into the eyes of a younger version of the woman who sat in front of Sarah.

“That is the painting that was done in commemoration of my wedding day.” Livia watched carefully as the girl turned pale and had trouble catching her breath. Though she wasn’t as adept at reading humans as her son was, it was easy to see that the portrait was causing the girl distress.

“Ohhh…” Sarah gasped and covered her mouth. Black spots formed in front of her eyes and her head swam, but she moved forward on unsteady feet to get a better look. There was something wrong with the painting, but her mind wouldn’t take it in. Part of her knew that she was giving herself away, but she couldn’t stop her forward motion if her life depended on it. “It’s not right,” she muttered.

“What isn’t?” The older woman rose and followed Sarah as she stared up at the portrait. Something very important was happening, Livia could sense it, but she was unsure how to interpret it.

“I’m not sure…but…it’s him, but it’s not,” She said, hardly audible, her voice full of doubt. For the first time in six years she was in the presence of a likeness of Jareth that she hadn’t drawn. “But…but…his eyes…his eyes are wrong.” Tears were streaming down her face, but she didn’t feel them. All she knew was that the Goblin King in the painting had deep blue eyes, not the fascinating mismatched ones that had haunted her dreams for years.

“No, that is exactly how he looked,” Livia smiled as she remembered learning the joys of love while watching those eyes flash with blue fire as they lit with passion.

“But…no…” Sarah shook her head and backed away from the painting, all rules of etiquette forgotten. For one moment she wondered if she had died in her burning room and this was her own private version of hell. “All that happened before couldn’t have been a dream or hallucination.” Sarah was staring into the face of the man who lived within her heart, and tried not to doubt herself. She fought for what she believed was the last shreds of her sanity. “It wasn’t only my imagination. It was real,” she added. “Because Toby and I are here now and we’re real, you’re real, Ellamora is real and…” her voice cracked “…and Jareth was before I killed him,” she sobbed. “But those aren’t his eyes! His were different, unique,” she smiled softly as she remembered heavy-lidded mismatched eyes that had the power to make her feel things she hadn’t felt in a very long time. “I know because they’ve haunted me for six years.”

“Jareth?” Livia gasped in surprise. She’d imagined many possible conversations she might have with the human, but this was not one of them. “That’s not Jareth. It’s his father, my husband, Mesmer.” Livia watched as her words seemed to bounce off Sarah. All the girl could do was shake her head and cry harder. For the first time the Queen was aware of how thin and fragile she looked. Whatever the child had been through in the last forty-eight hours had left deeper, more painful marks than the ones on her skin. “Why would you think it was Jareth, or that he was dead?” 

Sarah had trouble catching her breath between sobs. She’d wrapped her arms around herself to keep from flying into tiny pieces. “I was there in the Escher room when it cracked and his magic broke beneath us.” Her voice shook with emotion as she felt and saw all over again what had happened six years ago. “Jareth died and it was my fault.” Sarah buried her face in her hands while silent tears shook her body. “I’m….so…so...sorry.” Her words came out in rough sobs. “I didn’t mean to do it, really I didn’t.”

“Oh, my dear,” Livia put her arms around the human. “You didn’t kill him. My son is very much alive in the Castle beyond the Goblin City.”

“But I saw it happen and it felt as though something essential to my being was ripped from within me. After the spell shattered, he was deathly white, I could feel the pain he was in…but the clock was almost to the thirteenth hour. I was out of time. There was nothing else I could do, so I said…I lied to him….I had to…I couldn’t let him turn Toby into a goblin…I swear I didn’t know it would make him disappear. I thought I was the only one who would pay a price.” Her legs gave out and Livia helped her to the floor, still holding on to her as she cried. “I didn’t know it would kill him.”

Sarah sat on the floor with her head in the lap of Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins, and cried her heart out. All the pent-up sorrow she’d kept hidden tightly away for the last six years was finally freed. She cried for the loss of the man she knew she’d loved when she was a child and believed she now loved as a woman. She cried for her mother, Linda, who had drifted out of her life years ago and for the recent loss of her father and stepmother. And for all the empty years that she would spend in regret because of a careless childhood game that had cost her so much. 

“It’s all right, everything is going to be all right,” Livia soothed as she comforted the sobbing young woman. She ran one hand down the girl’s neatly braided hair and whispered soft words just as if she were dealing with a grief-stricken child. It was obvious that Sarah was as distraught as Jareth had been the night before, but much less adept at hiding it. The Fae woman shook her head at the mess these two had made of their lives. Both were sorrowing and in pain because they thought the other was dead. It was almost like one of those odd Aboveground novels that her son would occasionally bring back for her to read. “Hush, my dear, you’re going to be all right.”

“No, nothing will be all right ever again.” Sarah pulled back and tried to wipe her face dry. “Now you and everyone will know the truth. I wished my brother away on a whim and killed a Goblin King in order to get him back.”

“Here, take this,” the Fae woman held out a lace edged handkerchief she’d plucked from the air. “I meant it when I said Jareth is alive. I’m his mother; I wouldn’t lie to you about such a thing.” She wondered what had happened between the two six years ago to make Sarah think she’d destroyed Jareth. Knowing her son the way she did, she was sure he was behind it. “You didn’t kill him. You couldn’t, you’re human and don’t have the power to do so. The man in that picture is Mesmer, his father. The artist captured his eyes perfectly. Jareth has the famous mismatched eyes of the Goblin Kings, which skips every other generation.”

“He’s really alive?” For one joyous moment Sarah let herself feel guilt washed away by joy. Then fear began to eat at the edges of her happiness as she remembered how determined the Goblin King had been to win her brother. Her complexion paled even more, if that was possible, as she absorbed the new information. “Oh my God, I left Toby with Ellamora. They’ll all see him, they’ll all know and then so will Jareth!” She gasped and tried to get to her feet, but Livia’s sure grip on her shoulders held her tightly in place. “I have to hide him until I can get us out of here. If he finds him here, he’ll turn him into a goblin for sure this time!”

“Sarah, you’re not making any sense.” The Queen tightened her hold on the girl and gave her a little shake to get her attention. “What’s all this nonsense about goblins?” 

“No, please, I have to get to my brother.” Sarah sobbed, but black spots were forming in front of her eyes as pain throbbed from the burns on her arm, which Livia was inadvertently digging into as she held onto her.

“Sarah…. _Saraaaahhhh_ …” Livia’s words twisted and swam toward Sarah as if from a great foggy cavern until they filled her mind and blocked out all the pain and sorrow that had been her constant companion for the last forty-eight hours. Darkness rushed toward her as she fell forwards, unconscious, in the lap of the worried Dowager Queen.


	3. Second Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah and Jareth meet for first time in 6 years.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Jareth arrived at Corramar Manor House in a flurry of stardust and magic, moments after receiving the message from his mother that Sarah Williams was alive.

“Where is she? I must see her.” He swept into Livia’s drawing room, but she was immune to his imperious manner.

“Sit, and have a cup of tea,” Livia looked her son in the eyes. She needed a few answers before she was letting him anywhere near the human girl. “There are things we must discuss first.” 

“What could there possibly be to discuss? Sarah is alive and here in the Underground. I must see her.”

“Aren’t you interested in what Echelon, my healer, had to say after examining her?” She wisely added a generous splash of Elvish Whisky to Jareth’s tea before handing him the delicate porcelain cup. 

“Healer? Why was she in need of a healer?” He shuddered, remembering the blackened room the girl must have escaped from, and quickly gulped the fortified hot tea he’d been given. “Was she injured?”

“Not to badly, but what caused her to faint goes much deeper than what can be seen on the outside.”

“Sarah fainted?” That didn’t sound like the stubborn girl who had challenged him and his Labyrinth years ago. “What aren’t you telling me, mother?”

“Echelon confirmed what you suspected. She had been in her bedroom when it caught fire. She has a burn on her neck and a number of them that were hidden below the left sleeve of her gown. He reported they will heal with proper care. Ellamora had already begun the treatment he would have prescribed, and he’s instructed her to continue as she was doing.”

“Is she suffering?” The Goblin King headed for the door, determined to find Sarah. “I can use the magic of the Kings to repair the damage. If necessary, I can even draw extra power from the depths of the Labyrinth.” He knew that the giving of life was reserved for the creator of all things and not even his magic could change that, but he could, with the help of the powers passed down to him through his title, make small changes that would cause healing to progress much faster. 

“The healing potion they’re using has relieved most of the pain and is helping her injuries heal. But there is more. The girl is undernourished, and exhausted. From what little she’d tell us, part of it was her own doing, something about…finals, whatever Aboveground thing they are. She also confided in me that her father was a type of legal official. It appears as if criminals threatened him and his family. She has had a very difficult year.”

“The men who came after the Williams family have been dealt with.” Jareth’s voice was hushed, his expression grim. Livia always new her son had a darker side when needed, it was what allow him to rule. “Believe me mother, you do not want to know.”

“There is one other thing. What has me most worried is that she is suffering from a broken heart. It’s an old break, and scarred deeply. Only the one who broke it can do anything about it, and she refused to discuss it.” She looked pointedly at her son, sure he was the cause. “The only thing she would speak of was the fire, and the fact that she and Toby had somehow fallen into the Underground. There was sorrow and pain in her eyes though when she talked about her father and stepmother. They were in the house at the time of the blaze and she is unsure as to their fate. Both she and her brother are mourning them as if they know their parents were unable to escape.” 

“I picked up no emanations from the children’s parents when I searched for Sarah. At the time I believed the entire Williams family had been killed. Now it would appear it was only the parents.” Jareth spoke with difficulty past the lump in his throat as his world shook and turned on its axis for the second time in twenty-six hours. “Is the boy all right?” It was hard for him to take in the miracle that was presented to him. 

“He’s safe and well, Sarah saw to that. From what little we can piece together from talking to both of them, the child passed out when the blaze first started. If it hadn’t been for his sister he would be dead. This is not a woman who would have wished him away, even six years ago. She bears the scars of her loyalty and love and deserved better treatment than to be allowed to think she killed a Goblin King to win her brother back.”

“Pardon me?” He was unsure which feeling was stronger: relief in knowing that the reason Sarah had never called to him was because she thought him dead; or sorrow because of the pain he must have caused her.

“She believed she killed you in your final confrontations with her.” Livia shook her head at her son, unhappy that he would treat a being so badly, especially when he’d admitted the night before that the only reason Sarah was in the Underground was because of his interest in her. Making her run the Labyrinth had been for his sake, not Toby’s. The girl had only been playing a game when she wished her brother away and the King had known that, but he’d used it as an excuse to try to get something he’d been wanting for a long time. “When I finally convinced her you were alive, she cried in relief, but soon the tears were replaced by panic. She fears you and that you will turn her brother into a goblin.” Even as she said it, Livia doubted she had understood Sarah correctly.

“The book hints that is the fate of the one who is wished away.” Jareth shrugged. It was something beyond his control. The Goblin Kings hadn’t written the Labyrinth story, but had used it as a tool to protect human children. “It is an indicator that has been used over the centuries to tell if someone really does not care what happens to a child. With some it is easy to know, all I have to do is look at the babe. With others it is not so easy.”

“But that doesn’t explain why she thought you were dead!” Livia frowned not wanting to look too closely at the implications of what Jareth had just said. It would mean accepting that her own gentle Mesmer had used the same threat on many an unsuspecting human. 

“I am unsure about that myself.” Jareth thought back to the last moments in the Escher Room with Sarah, six years ago. “It took all my strength to keep the magic in place as the rocks shifted and fell beneath our feet. I tried to convince her to stay, to love me, fear me and I would be her slave. I realize now she was too young to understand what I was asking of her, but at the time I thought she knew I loved her. When she denied me by saying the words it bound my magic. The only way I could take her safely to the Aboveworld was by the Ancient Portal. The one that can only be traveled in owl form to retrieve or return wished-aways or those who wish them away.” As he spoke of his last meeting with Sarah, Jareth began to doubt. 

He was a Fae who had learned that if something was too good to be true, it was probably an illusion. It was a skill he’d excelled at over his long lifetime. His heart wanted to believe that Sarah was alive and in the Underground, but logic made him question it. He’d seen the blackened remains of her bedroom, he’d found her book, which she carried everywhere with her, buried under her charred and still smoking bed. But it was the damaged melted portal that made him doubt that Sarah had made it out alive. She hadn’t realized it had existed nor had she realized she had the ability to use it.

He slowly pulled from the air the crystal that held Sarah’s dreams. If his mother was incorrect about the identity of the human who rested in one of her guest chambers, he would see only gray shadows, the shattered remains of dreams that would never be fulfilled because the person to whom they belonged had died. He steeled himself and looked deep into the magic held in his hand. 

What he saw took his breath away. Sarah’s dreams remained unchanged. They were still of the two of them together, despite the fact that she had thought he was dead or that she now feared his power to take Toby. These were the dreams of her heart, not her sleeping mind and they didn’t lie. Locked in the crystal he saw them caught in a passionate embrace. He had to smile, because he was almost always pictured the same, wearing the blue frockcoat from the Ballroom years ago; it was only Sarah who changed. She was crushed against him as he kissed his way up her chest and neck. Her hair flowed in long waves over his arm that supported her neck. Her head was thrown back to allow him better access to her creamy skin and the look on her face was pure ecstasy.

“The clues were there all along,” he muttered, remembering looking into that very crystal twice since he’d awakened from a dream of fire and fear. He didn’t want to examine too closely why he’d missed the evidence that she still lived. It was unlike him to be careless about something that important. 

“Jareth,” Livia called to him from across the room, but he hardly heard her. 

“Enough of waiting,” he spoke to the crystal, barely aware he was standing in his mother’s drawing room. “It’s time to act.” As quickly as he made the crystal vanish, he transported himself to stand outside the chamber where Sarah was resting. Raising one gloved hand he knocked soundly on the door.  


**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

.  
Livia blinked at the empty space where a moment earlier her son had been standing. In the last fifty-two hours she’d seen a side to Jareth she’d thought he’d left behind in his youth. There was something about the human girl who brought out all the impulsiveness that had gotten him into so many scrapes when growing-up. Livia could only hope that he had better control over his emotions than he appeared to, or he would lose any chance he had with the young human.  


**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Come in,” Sarah called out, but was unprepared for the being that stood framed in her doorway. “Jareth,” his name caught in her throat. Livia had assured her that he was alive, but part of her had begun to doubt he’d ever existed. Now he was standing twenty feet away. His long shaggy blonde hair was just as wild and untamed as she remembered it. Tall leather boots, tight fitting black breeches and a soft loose-fitting white shirt covered by a snug black vest made him look impossibly handsome.

“Sarah,” he said, almost inaudibly, and moved slowly across the room. His heart skipped a beat at seeing her alive and finally in his realm. She’d come back to him, even if it hadn’t been of her own free will; she was back. His eyes drank in the sight of her, propped against the pillows. Her long dark hair spilled wild and free over her shoulders and the covers she held tightly to her breasts. On a chair beside the bed was a light blue Elf-style dress and a pair of odd-looking boots.

“You really are alive.” She felt tears begin to fill her eyes and blinked quickly to stop them falling. 

“Very much so,” his words came out unevenly as his eyes traveled over what he could see of her body. This was not the girl from six years ago, but a woman and she was in pain.

“What are you doing here?” Sarah moved deeper into the pillows that supported her as Jareth came closer with each beat of her heart. By the time he sat on the bed beside her, she was crouched against the headboard, holding the blanket over the thin white undershift she knew was practically transparent from too many washings and keeping her burned left arm hidden from mismatched eyes that saw too much.

“This is my Kingdom, I go where I please.” He watched her odd behavior. Her hand trembled. It was evident that she wanted space between them, even if it was only an extra inch. The panic he read in her eyes cooled the flare of desire that had ignited when he looked into the crystal moments earlier. “I find it strange that you would fear me. The last time you paid me a visit you defied me at every turn.”

“Toby, where’s Toby?” Sarah’s frightened gaze darted past him as she carefully approximated the distance between the bed and door. 

“The boy is with Ellamora.”

“You can’t have him!” She shook her head and lurched past his shoulder in an attempt to scramble across the bed and get out of the room, but her coordination wasn’t what it usually was and he was much quicker than she’d anticipated. “I won’t let you turn him into a goblin.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” He reached out and grabbed her. With a quick turn of his shoulders, they were stretched out across the bed. Her soft body pressed against his as he pinned her in place. He had to fight not to smile, since he had her in precisely the position he’d longed for, though he doubted the outcome would be as he hoped. “What makes you think….”

“Aaahh” she bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain as his leather-covered hand tightened around her left arm and broke through scabs that were finally beginning to form.

“Oh, my dear,” Jareth pulled the blanket away and saw the numerous areas of burned and blistered skin that were evidence of her struggle to escape the fire. “I didn’t mean to cause you more suffering.” His mother had made light of her physical injuries, but it was apparent she had been hurt far worse than he had been led to believe.

“It doesn’t matter. Let me go. Forget that Toby and I ever came back.” Her eyes were closed and her breath whistled as she fought to keep from curling against his warmth. For too many years his memory had been her refuge in times of sorrow. It was hard to remember that his cruel streak didn’t allow for human errors. “I’ll do anything you ask, if you set Toby free.”

Jareth doubted she realized that she’d just offered him her life and her body carte blanche. Sarah might have a woman’s shapely curves and a woman’s needs, but her aura of innocence was as strong as ever. If he loved her a little less he might have lied to her and left the consequences for the future. He’d made that mistake with her once before and he wasn’t repeating it. If they were truly fated, as he believed, coercing her into a union was not the answer. She must come to the decision on her own. But first she needed to heal in body and spirit.

“Toby is safe, I promise you.” He lifted her easily to straighten her body and laid her head back against the pillows. He carefully covered her with the blanket, and he pulled back until he was sitting with his hip tucked securely against her side. “And so are you.”

“Are we really?” Her eyes fluttered open and she studied the sincere expression on his beautiful face. As much as she wanted to believe him she couldn’t take a chance with Toby’s fate.

“Yes, you are.” With a flick of his wrist Jareth pulled a crystal from the air. “If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.” He let it roll off his hand and into hers. “Hold this in your palm.” He instructed. “Then tell it you want to see Toby, right now. A crystal cannot lie.”

Sarah’s hand shook as she held the bubble of magic. It felt cool and smooth against her skin. “It feels…alive,” she whispered as the power that was contained within it radiated outwards to tickle her hand and send a shiver down her spine. “I don’t have to ‘wish’ it, do I?” Her green eyes looked up at him with doubts. The last time she’d made a careless demand of magic, she’d almost lost her brother. Since then she’d cut the phrase from her vocabulary. 

“No, of course not,” he shook his head. He’d done more damage to her than he’d imagined when he’d attempted to win her as his Queen all those years ago. “You’ll only be giving it instructions. The crystals are a tool, a way of channeling my powers and those granted me by my title. Since you’re the one holding it, you will be the one in control.”

“All right,” she nodded. As much as she needed to see her brother, it was hard for her to say the words. Magic and wishes were too closely tied in her mind with nightmares of her brother being tuned into a goblin and Jareth dying. “I want…” she began hesitantly. “I want to see Toby, right now.” 

The second she’d spoken the last word, the sphere in her palm began to pulse and glow. Shapes began to form until she was able to see the boy. He was sitting at a large wooden table. Behind him was a huge brick oven that was surrounded by racks of hooks where pots, pans and cooking utensils of all kinds hung within easy reach. Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins, and Ellamora were keeping him company as he ate a huge slice of pie.

“They’re in my mother’s kitchen.” Jareth placed his hand under Sarah’s and guided it so he could see what she was seeing. The three beings they were watching were laughing and talking as if they were the oldest of friends. “Even if you hadn’t won him back, do you think I’d want to take a chance on incurring the wrath of those two ladies? It would be all my life was worth.” As much as he wanted to tell her the whole truth, that Toby was never in any danger of being turned into a goblin, he knew that at the moment it would only anger her and cause more resentment. If he was going to be able to do anything to heal her injuries tonight, he needed her trust.

“I don’t understand any of this, how we got here, why you’d even care about our needs. I thought you were dead and the Underground forever out of my reach.” Sarah sighed softly and handed back the crystal. It had been too enticing to hold power like that in her hand. She realized she could easily become as enchanted as she’d ever been with the ideas of magic, unbelievable things, and the Goblin King himself. 

“Hardly. All that died that night was the image of me that you had created, nothing more.” He smiled and out of habit, slowly rolled the crystal from one hand to the other.

“You mean all that time, the thirteen hours I thought I spent here, was just my imagination?” She hated to believe it. Though her trip through the Labyrinth had ended in as much sorrow as joy, it had had a major impact on her life. She had no desire to discover it had all been a dream. “You created all of that and I never left the safety of my home?”

“No, my dear, you were here, just as you are here now.” This was getting too close to a subject he didn’t want to discuss with her until she was feeling stronger. “But I was forced to act in a way that was in keeping with the Goblin King you imagine. That is the way the magic works.” He hoped she still had enough belief in her to take his answer at face value and not ask any more questions, especially about wished-away children.

“I wish…” she gasped as she stopped herself. She had been in the Underground for only two days and already she was falling back into habits that had caused her so much trouble as a fifteen-year-old. “I’d have liked to have known that you were all right.” She carefully amended. 

“The means was always at your disposal. There was a portal left open through your mirror. It was for your friends to visit you. If you’d wanted it badly enough you would have discovered it was also your escape to this world. I can only assume that the night of the fire you were able to do just that.”

“You knew about the fire, but didn’t help us?” Her voice rose as she fought panic at the memory of flames and smoke. She remembered needing Jareth badly while trying to escape, but he apparently hadn’t cared enough to respond to that need. The thought cut deeply and she didn’t want to think about it now.

“Shhh, you’re safe, both of you are safe. Those men can never harm you again.” He reached for her left hand and began to stroke the back of it. “I dreamt of it, but didn’t know where it was coming from. Years ago, when you told me I had no power over you, your words locked my magic. I couldn’t hear you unless you called to me by name. I am unsure why I was able to feel your fear.” He watched her eyes as she looked everywhere but in his direction. He knew she had lied that night, but wasn’t able to tell him. He would give her time. Once she felt safe enough with him to be able to do that, he would know that they were going to be all right.

“You would have helped if you’d known?” Part of her still doubted him, telling herself that it was her need for him that was making her want to believe he was telling the truth. The being that was sitting beside her calming her fears was so different from the one who had hounded her through the Labyrinth. It was hard to reconcile the two images. This one was acting too much like the Goblin King she had dreamt about over the years as loneliness and memories had been her only company in her solitary bed.

“I would have used all the power available to me and any that I could have borrowed or stolen to be sure that you and your brother were safe.” 

“Can you help us now, by sending us home?” When Jareth spoke to her like that she wasn’t sure she really wanted to go home, but there was nothing else left for her to do. She had no place in the Labyrinth or the King’s life and there was Toby’s safety to be considered. 

“No--”

“You can’t or you won’t?” She cut in and tried to pull her hand free, but he only held on tighter.

“I can’t. There is a small possibility Toby would make it through the ancient portal alive, due to his youth, but you would not.” In his temper after discovering the fire he’d destroyed all the doors between the Underground and the above world, except one and it was beyond his power to control. It could only be traversed by a white owl, wished away children and, for the short space of thirteen hours, those who wished-away. “Even if I was willing to take the chance with your brother’s life, it would be for nothing. There is no one left for him to return home to.”

“Ohhh,” her eyes grew very big and she gripped his hand that was holding hers. “Daddy and Karen didn’t make it out of the fire?”

“No, I’m sorry, Sarah,” Jareth said with utmost gentleness. He’d restrained himself for as long as he could. As Sarah slowly fell apart before his eyes, he pulled her close and held her in his arms. It was something he needed as much as she did.

For a moment she stiffened, and then her body relaxed against his and she accepted the comfort he offered. Her fingers dug into his vest as she cried. With her face buried against his neck, she felt soft blonde hair caress her cheek. Hands that she’d only dreamt about rubbed away sore, stiff spots in the muscles of her back and neck. With a moan, she wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed closer against his body.

They sat like that for a long time, each drawing comfort from the other, each finally secure that the other was alive. 

“Sarah,” Jareth shifted her slightly so he could see her face. She was exhausted and needed a night of calming sleep. It was something he could give her, but he knew that if he ever used magic on her without her permission, he would likely lose her. “Look at me, Sarah.”

“I’m a mess and I’ve got you all soggy,” she tried to smile as she wiped her wet cheeks and rubbed at a damp spot on his shirt.

“You need rest.” He cupped her chin with one gloved hand while still holding her close. “When was the last time you were able to sleep through the night?” The dark circles under her eyes told their own story, but Jareth needed to hear it from her.

“It’s been a while, but I’ll be fine.” She dreaded falling asleep. The last two nights her dreams had been filled with billowing smoke and flames.

“Do you trust me, Sarah?” Mismatched eyes looked deeply into green ones.

“I…” She thought of all she knew about the Goblin King. He’d kept his word and sent both Toby and her home at the end of their last encounter. He’d left an escape route open through her bedroom mirror that had saved their lives. He was here now giving her strength and support when he had no reason to; after all, she was just one in a long line of girls who had wished away a sibling. Logic told her that he might have a hidden agenda, but stronger than all the logic in the world was how he made her feel. “I…yes…I want to,” she whispered.

“That will have to do for now,” he smiled. “I can help you if you’ll let me, but it involves magic.”

“What kind of…magic.” She bit her lower lip not sure she wanted to know. It was unlike him to ask before he used his powers; in the past he did as he pleased. “How can you help me?”

“First, by giving you this,” the crystal he’d recently made sat on outstretched fingertips. “Take it. It is yours, so you will always know that Toby is safe.” He dropped the sphere into her cupped hands and though he didn’t add the words, ‘and has not been turned into a goblin’, they hung in the air between them as if he had.

“Jareth….I… I can’t take it, it’s too much,” she stammered. “I can’t take part of your magic.” The offer was seductive and frightening at the same time. As much as she wanted to have a means to always watch over Toby, the idea of using magic to do so made her dizzy. It was too much like something she would have done as a fifteen-year old.

“Sarah, there is very little power involved in that crystal.” He watched her and could read in her eyes that she was thinking about another crystal that he’d offered her six years ago, one that had held a great deal of power and that, unknown to her, still did. “This is a gift, Sarah, so you won’t have to fear for Toby. Since I’m the reason you worry about him so badly, it is the least I can do.”

“Thank you,” she blinked away tears and clutched the magical sphere. “That is very kind of you.” 

“You’re most welcome.” He smiled and tapped her nose with an index finger. “But don’t let it get around. I’m the Goblin King and have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

“I’m sure you do.” Sarah looked at him under her lashes and had to fight to suppress a grin.

“That’s more like the Sarah Williams I remember,” his eyes twinkled as he gently brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. The vivid red blister on her neck had been hidden beneath it. He winced and carefully covered it with his gloved hand. “Does it give you much pain?”

“The herbs Ellamora is putting on it helps a lot.” She was suddenly very aware of how close they were sitting. The longer she was in his presence, the more she realized how wrong she’d been about him six years ago. 

“I can heal it for you.” He gently outlined the burned skin that ran from her chin to her collarbone and pock-marked her left arm. “It takes great power to heal living cells. Only those with the magic of the Kings can do so. I can also give you one night of sleep that will not be interrupted by nightmares. Will you let me help you?”

“I…” She almost turned him down, and then she thought of the crystal that she clutched in her right hand. He’d given it to her not just as a way to check on Toby’s whereabouts, but so she had visual proof any time she chose that Jareth had kept his word and not turned her brother into a goblin. She couldn’t say she trusted him completely, but she wanted to. If she let him help her, he would know she was trying to believe in him. “I would appreciate it very much.” 

Jareth slipped his gloves off and gently placed Sarah’s head on his left shoulder. “Put your left arm around my neck,” he whispered as he covered the nasty-looking blister with his bare hand. His other arm was around her shoulders so she was surrounded by his magic as he softly spoke in a language that sounded musical and strange.

“That’s nice,” she sighed. The cool feel of his skin against her burned flesh made her tingle. He was all around her, making her light-headed and dizzy. In an attempt to regain her equilibrium, she buried her face against his neck and breathed in the smell of moonbeams and magic. She remembered it from six years ago, but this time it didn’t frighten her. This time it made her feel relaxed and safe.

“Stay awake a bit longer.” He felt her breathing even out but kept his eyes on the angry blister as it began to fade under his touch. At precisely the right moment, he muttered the same spell a second time to deepen it. “There, that’s much better.” Jareth examined the newly healed area. “It’s still a bit red, but that should fade by morning. How does it feel?”

“I can move my neck without it hurting. Thank you,” she smiled, having trouble keeping her eyes open. She realized he must have begun the spell to make her sleep at the same time as he began the one that would cure her burns. 

“Now the arm, you have to lie back for this.” He lowered her gently to the bed, hating to separate her body from his.

“Jareth, you promised, no dreams,” she said drowsily as she felt him clasp her left hand in his and begin to run the other over her arm from elbow to shoulder. The soft words of his magic and the touch of his skin against hers made her smile. For the first time since the fire, she began to think that maybe things would be all right.

“No dreams for you tonight, my dear.” 

Sarah’s only answer was a contented sigh as her fingers tightened momentarily between his. Then dreamless lethargy seeped through her conscious mind until she lay in a soothing fog, which carried with it the secure presence of the Goblin King. 

Jareth sat and watched Sarah sleep. Her hand trustingly held his. He’d healed her burns and given her one night of dreamless slumber as promised. He only wished he could do more for her. He knew his magic could create the illusion of happiness, but if Sarah was to truly be happy she needed to do it herself. By relieving her pain and giving her rest he’d given her weapons that should help her; for now that was all he could do. Tomorrow when she woke, she would be well rested and free of physical discomfort. He planned on keeping an eye on her and being there for her when ever she needed him.

After blowing out the candle beside her bed he took one selfish moment and leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, my love.”

“Jareth,” she murmured, at the sound of his voice.

“Sleep,” he whispered and put the final words on his spell. With a smile he picked up the crystal that was buried beside her. It had been a very small gesture on his part that had meant a lot to Sarah. Maybe he was finally learning how to deal with her. Jareth carefully placed the magic sphere beside her dress on the chair. Then he pulled another crystal out of the air to transport himself to the hall outside his mother’s kitchen.  


**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Mother,” Jareth called out as he entered the warm friendly room. “Ahhh I see you have company.” He smiled in Toby’s direction.

“Your Highness,” Ellamora moved quickly to her feet and swept into a deep curtsy.

“Mistress Kilhaggen,” he bowed his head slightly and nodded for her to return to her seat.

“Gosh…you’re…you’re…the Goblin King!” All Toby could do was stare. The being that had just come through the door looked exactly the way Sarah had drawn him on the inner leaf of her Labyrinth book. The boy blinked to be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, but when he opened them, the King was still standing there, tall, and straight with wild blonde hair that reached to his shoulders. It was uncanny; even the Fae’s unusual mismatched eyes had been captured in Sarah’s drawings, though she’d been unable to do them justice. 

“Yes, I am,” he smiled. “I am Jareth, fourth King of the Goblin Territories. You must be Toby.”

“Yes, sir….aaaaa…Your Highness.” There was something about Jareth’s voice that shivered through Toby’s memory, but he couldn’t place it. It was almost as if he’d heard it in a dream, very long ago. The boy told himself it was only his imagination playing tricks on him. It must have been from all the times Sarah would read to him from her book and imitate what she thought the voices of the characters should sound like. It was strange how well she’d been able to approximate the almost English-sounding accent of the Fae Lord.

“Either will do.” He would have offered to let the child call him by his given name, but doubted Toby would understand that it was only to be done among family. “Would you like to come with me and meet my unicorn, Moonbeam?”

“Ahhh…..” Toby wanted desperately to see the unicorn, but he didn’t like the doubts he was feeling regarding Jareth. “Is it all right, Ellamora?” Toby looked to her for guidance. Sarah had instructed him to stay close to the Elf when she wasn’t around.

“Yes, my boy, the King will keep you safe.” She glanced at the tall Fae as she spoke. Since he interacted with human children on a regular basis, he was well acquainted with the oddities associated with the Aboveground species, but they were usually of a much younger age. “Now off with you and mind His Highness, his word is law.”

“Jareth, you’re not going to try and ride that wild beast of yours are you?” Livia looked from him to the boy. She was curious to know what had happened between Sarah and her son, but it didn’t look as if he was going to give her a chance to find out.

“Not tonight and you needn’t worry. I’m capable of taking care of a child.” He grinned wickedly at the irony of his statement. 

“Jareth…” Livia headed for door to join them. She didn’t know what her son was up to, but she knew Sarah feared for Toby’s safety when Jareth was around. It was ridicules, but she felt a need to care for the boy as she knew his sister would if she were standing there with them.

“I’ll bring him back shortly.” He stepped between his mother and the door since he wanted to talk to Toby in private.

“But…” The Dowager Queen tried one last time to join them as they headed for the door.

“Oh, one other thing, mother. You might like to arrange a pallet for Toby beside Sarah’s bed.” He looked at the boy to be sure he was reading him correctly. “I think he’ll sleep better knowing his sister is in the same room. I know she will be relieved to find him there in the morning.” Then he turned his back on the women and held out his hand for the child. “Well, come along, young man, it’s not everyday you get to meet a real, live unicorn.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Toby’s eyes kept darting to the King as they went out the door that led to the kitchen garden and walked along the side of the fenced-in field to the stable that was across from the main manor house. “I didn’t want to say anything ‘cause Ellamora has been so kind to us, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I…I…need to stay with Sarah.” It was hard for him to admit it, because he was a big boy of almost eight and it didn’t seem right that he’d be homesick without his sister, but he knew he would be.

“She needs you, as well.”

“But she’s a grown-up, and has lived on her own.” It was nice to think that there was someone who needed him, but he couldn’t help questioning it. “I’m just a kid.” 

“There are times when even grown-ups need other people.” Jareth knew Toby was studying him as they entered the stable and he could feel that the child didn’t quite trust him. It was an odd feeling since he was used to the unconditional trust of children who had been wished-away.

“Not Sarah----wooh,” Toby gasped as the stable door opened. “This place is huge.” Suddenly his mind wasn’t on Sarah, the Goblin King or the Underground. He could see the white head of the unicorn and hear him snort as Jareth waved his hand and lanterns lining the passageway filled with light. 

“Take my hand,” Jareth reached behind him and felt Toby grip his gloved hand. “And stay behind me until Moonbeam is sure of my scent. My mother likes to call him a wild beast. His reputation is well earned.”

“Yes, sir.” Toby gripped his hand tighter as they walked the length of the stable. On one side there was a large empty stall with fresh hay on the ground. On the other side there were two separate stalls; one housed a small sable-coated horse and the other a tall white unicorn. The animals may have been separated by a four-foot divider, but the huge white unicorn had been nuzzling the cheek of the small brown mare.

Jareth moved forward and carefully took off his gloves. He kept one eye on Toby and the other on Moonbeam’s almost two-foot long horn. He knew that it wasn’t there for show. When male unicorns fought, they used their horns with deadly accuracy. “Good evening, Moonbeam,” he purred and slowly reached out to caress the animal’s velvety cheek. “That’s it, keep up the illusion. A good king always makes others think he had the upper hand.” Jareth grinned at his favorite stallion. “Just remember who you’re dealing with. You can’t fool me. You sniffed out my magic when I first arrived. Be as piqued as you like, but you were not the first one I visited tonight.” The animal rubbed against the Goblin King’s outstretched palm and sniffed at his shoulder. “Now stop showing off for your lady. I’ve a young friend for you to meet.”

Toby gasped as Jareth leaned down and picked him up until he was at eye level with the huge white animal. “Toby, say hello to Moonbeam,” the King’s voice was soothing and low and all the time he spoke, he kept running one ungloved hand on the unicorn’s muzzle. 

“Hi there, Moonbeam,” the boy reached out to imitate Jareth’s hand movements. When his fingers came in contact with the soft white coat, Moonbeam flicked his long tail, snorted and turned blue eyes on the small being that dared touch him. “That tickles,” Toby giggled and jumped slightly in Jareth’s arms, but kept right on patting the amazing animal.

“I think he likes you, my lad.”

“I hope so, ‘cause I like him. Can I meet his wife?” Toby could almost see a smirk on the small horse’s face as she’d stood back and watched the posturing and prancing of her soon-to-be-mate as he greeted their visitors.

“I believe it would be most acceptable,” the King grinned at the boy’s choice of words. “Magic,” he called. “Come and meet our guest, your betrothed has been getting all the attention for long enough.”

Jareth put Toby down and leaned back against Moonbeam’s stall with one arm around the neck of the tall white animal while Magic leaned her head out and butted the child’s hand. “She wants you to scratch her forehead.”

“She’s beautiful,” Toby sighed and stroked the long silky hair of her mane and ran his fingers down her warm soft head. “I wish…” he stuttered to a stop remembering his sister’s warning from the first day. He was never to start a sentence with ‘I wish’. “I mean...I’d really like Sarah to see them. She’d think they’re great. She used to really love magical things.”

“Doesn’t she anymore?” The boy caught Jareth’s attention immediately. This was something important about Sarah and he’d hoped to gain any information he could from Toby. 

“Not really, it’s almost as if she’s afraid of them. She never even visits with…” he stopped. He’d almost let slip that Sarah didn’t talk to her friends in her mirror anymore, hadn’t for a very long time. “She never told me anything about it.” He nodded, hoping he covered his tracks. “Maybe if she lets us stay in the Underground long enough, things will change. This place just breathes magic, it’s gotta affect her and make her believe again.”

“Toby, come here. We need to talk about some things.” Jareth held out his hand and together the tall Fae King and the small human boy walked over to a bale of hay in the large empty stall on the other side of the stable. “Sit here next to me.” Together they sat, the boy with his legs crossed Indian-style, facing the being that radiated power as if it were a tangible thing. The Goblin King had one booted foot on the floor and had turned his body towards the child, so one knee hooked onto the bale allowing his other foot to swing free.

“Is Sarah all right?” Toby suddenly had a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“She’s going to be.” Jareth closed his eyes and tried to find a way to tell the boy his parents were dead. He knew that was why he’d brought him out here alone; it wasn’t something he wanted Sarah to have to go through so it was his responsibility. “You know she had some burns and was very tired.” 

“She hasn’t slept well the last two nights. She doesn’t think I know, but I do. She kept waking up. I think she was having nightmares about the fire.” Toby bit his lip, feeling guilty. “She saved my life, by getting me out of there. If it had just been her alone, I don’t think she’d have got burned the way she did.”

“She loves you and would never have left you behind.” Jareth had trouble speaking as images of the blackened, fire-destroyed room filled his mind. 

“I know, that’s why I won’t leave her.” He looked out the open door of the stable toward the manor house. “And no matter what…even if there’s nobody waiting for us…” Toby’s lips quivered and he took a deep breath to go on. “I’ll leave the Underground when she wants to go…even if….even if…”

“Even if your parents didn’t make it out of the fire?” He said the words he knew the child was unable to say, but needed to hear.

“Yeah,” Toby sniffed and reached for Jareth, needing someone to hold on to.

“I’m sorry, Toby, I wish I could know it for you, for both of you, and save you the pain.” He held the boy and let him cry. “But it is not within the realm of my magic to do such things.” All his life he’d taken his powers for granted. He seldom ran into anything that was beyond his abilities. It galled him that, too often, where Sarah was concerned he was left helpless.

“Can you do anything to help my sister? I think she’s hurting a lot more than she wants me to know, ‘cause when she doesn’t know I’m looking, her face gets all sad and she keeps having to blink away tears.” Sarah was always so strong, it was unsettling to see her cry.

“I’ve done as much for her as I can.” He tucked the boy’s head under his chin and they sat together watching Moonbeam and Magic snoozing in their stalls across the passageway. “She allowed me to use magic to heal her burns and to give her a night of sleep without dreams or nightmares. Tomorrow she should wake up free of pain from her injuries and well rested.”

“I hope she doesn’t want to go back right away.” Toby looked around, knowing there was a lot to see and do in this strange new land. Since his mom and dad were gone, and Sarah was here with him, he couldn’t think of a single reason for returning Aboveground. “I’d really like us to stay, if it’s all right with you, Goblin King?” He rested his head on the shoulder of one of the most powerful beings in the Underground and didn’t realize there might be anything unusual about it. His lack of trust from earlier was forgotten.

“I’m afraid there is no choice in the matter.” He pulled back far enough so he could see the child’s eyes as he told him the truth. “The portals between your world and mine have been sealed, with the exception of one which you could not travel through and live to see the other side.”

“Oh…” Toby croaked. The finality of it took his breath away at the same time it excited him. “Does Sarah know?”

“Yes. I told her about your parents as well.”

Suddenly Toby was exhausted. There was so much more he wanted to ask the King, but he couldn’t form the words. It took all the effort an eight-year old could muster to keep the lump in his throat from giving way to tears again.

“Young man, I think it is long past your bedtime.” Jareth picked the child up and turned toward the passageway. As they passed Moonbeam the unicorn snorted out a warning.

“He protects her even while she sleeps,” Toby muttered with a tired grin on his face. It was nicer to think about the two animals than all that he’d lost in the fire two days ago.

“It would be unwise to sneak up on them while they sleep or if you had not been properly introduced.” He warned. “I can not vouch for Moonbeam’s good behavior if he is caught unawares.”

“Ellamora says he loves her,” the grimace on the child’s face and the tone of his voice said clearly what he thought of that concept. 

“I see you don’t think much of the idea,” Jareth laughed softly. “But in this case I believe Mistress Kilhaggen may be right.”

Toby rolled his eyes still not convinced that love like that was anything but a girly fantasy. He could understand loving his family, but a girl? The idea made him shake his head. “Besides, he’s a creature with magical powers and Magic is just an ordinary horse, no matter what her name is!”

“You’re young yet, but someday you’ll understand. The thing to remember is that though that mare may look ordinary to us, she is extraordinary to Moonbeam. His powers are nothing compared to the important place she has in his life. She is his and he will do anything necessary to keep her safe and beside him.” Jareth suddenly realized he was no longer talking about the animals in the stable, but about how he felt about Sarah.

The Goblin King quickly pulled a crystal out of the air and looked Toby in the eyes. “Would you like to see one of the many unusual ways I travel?” The boy nodded, completely forgetting their conversation of a moment ago. “Alright then, hold on tight.” Jareth tossed the crystal in the air and when it burst around them they disappeared.  


**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Whooo,” Toby gasped as they reappeared outside the door to the room where Sarah lay sleeping. “That was…Wow!”

“I gather you liked that mode of transportation?” Jareth grinned down at the boy in his arms.

“It was great…but it felt…I don’t know…almost familiar?”

“Now I know you’re exhausted, because you’re not making any sense.” He frowned at the child and carried him into the bedroom. Twice before Toby had been transported that way, once when he was taken from his parents’ bedroom six years ago and then when he was returned. But he should have no memory of it happening. Children who were wished away never retained memories of their former lives or how they got to the Underground. It was a part of life in the Goblin Territories that was never talked about, even in rumor.

“Goblin King?” Toby sat on a chair untying the shoes Ellamora had found for him. His eyes were on the nest of blankets that had been made up for him to sleep in beside Sarah’s bed. He could see his sister sleeping restfully a few feet away. “Would it be all right if I…well…if I shared the bed with…” he hated to ask. It made him sound like a baby to be afraid to sleep alone.

“Sarah would find it a comfort if she woke in the night and didn’t have to look around to find you.” By making it sound as if it was only for Sarah’s needs, Jareth made it easy for the child to climb into bed beside his sister.

“Thanks,” very young blue eyes looked up at much older mismatched ones. “It’s just that…”

“What is it, Toby?” The King stooped down beside the bed.

“It’s silly. I lost so much in the fire, I shouldn’t need anything else.” He unconsciously patted Sarah’s arm. She was his rock and all he had left in the worlds.

“There are no ‘shoulds’, only what is.”

“You sound like Sarah, sometimes. She says that a lot, but she usually adds, ‘and what is, isn’t always what it seems’.” Toby slid down in bed and leaned against his sister’s back. “It’s just that at night…well…I miss…I’m used to sleeping…I used to have Lancelot to keep me company when I slept, that’s all.”

“Ahh, I see.” Jareth stood back and watched as the child’s breathing evened out and he fell asleep next to his sister. It was obvious Toby missed the small stuffed animal that had been lost to him in the fire. At least, that was something that could be remedied. But it could wait until tomorrow. Now, Jareth had more important things to do, like basking in the simple joy he felt from Sarah’s presence three feet away.

The Goblin King couldn’t tear his eyes off her as she lay deeply asleep. His own words from just before he’d left the stable echoed through his mind. ‘His powers are nothing compared to the important place she has in his life. She is his and he will do anything necessary to keep her safe and beside him’ Now all he had to do was convince Sarah of that. Somehow he knew he was going to have a harder time of it than Moonbeam had had with Magic.


	4. A New Beginning

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After saying goodnight to his mother, Jareth transformed himself into an owl for the trip back to the castle beyond the Goblin City. He flapped his great wings, climbing high above the Underground. When he felt the change in pressures that indicated an air current, he extended his wingspan to its full length of three feet. There, beneath the moonlight, he rode the invisible pathways of air until the city gates were below.

Five minutes later he was knocking on the door of the home of his best friend and Aide, Lord Galen Marquest. His lips twitched at the flurry of activity be heard going on behind the closed portal. It was evident that the staff was completely unprepared for a visit by the King. Finally the door was opened by a harried-looking goblin that was still buttoning his coat and straightening his stock.

“Your Highness,” the butler bowed deeply.

“I have come to see Lord Galen and the Lady Marilee,” Jareth stated and walked into the entrance hall as if he owned it.

“This way, Your Majesty,” the goblin kept bowing his head as he directed his king to a large drawing room across the hall.

“Your Highness,” Galen bowed but couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Once the doors were closed and they were alone in the room the tall dark-blonde Fae shook with suppressed laughter. His staff had been completely undone by the surprise visit. “And what brings you to my home tonight?” He knew if it was State business that Jareth would be behind his desk and he would have been sent for. “A quick game of chess, perhaps?” 

“Hardly. Chess with you is never quickly concluded.” The two Fae had grown up together and chess was only one of the many things they had competed at over the years. Since Galen was almost as skilled a tactician as Jareth, they were evenly matched. “I apologize for rousing your household at this late hour.”

“It’s of no consequence.” Jareth’s Aide moved to his liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle and another snifter. “Join me in a cognac?”

“Thank you,” Jareth took the thin, crystal balloon in his gloved hand, another sure sign that the visit was personal. “Is Marilee about?”

“She’s reading Maia a story, but should be down shortly. We can adjourn to my study; no one will disturb us if the door is closed.” It was evident something was wrong. The Goblin King would, on occasion, arrive at odd hours, but he was unfailingly polite and always sent advance notice. Only once in the ten years that Galen had been married had Jareth arrived on his doorstep unannounced. It had been on a dark windy night six years ago. The king had been deathly pale and silent as he sat drinking in Galen’s study. When dawn arrived and the bottle was empty he’d left as suddenly as he’d arrived and never spoken of the incident or its cause. There had been odd chatter among a few of the residence of the Labyrinth, but no one of any consequence took note of those creatures. 

“Actually, this concerns your wife as well.” Absent-mindedly Jareth slipped the short stem of the delicate balloon between his fingers and curled his gloved hand around the fat base, all the while sending a tiny warming spell from his palm until the amber liquid was exactly the right temperature. Cold cognac tasted like something to be used to polish tack; once it was warmed it slid over the palate like liquid gold.

“Is Ellamora all right?” Galen’s expressive face showed all the worry he felt. Every protective instinct in him jumped to the forefront. His mother-in-law had had a respiratory infection during the winter that had lingered for months. He didn’t like the idea of her living alone, but she stubbornly refused any help. 

“She is well,” Jareth grinned. His friend appeared ready to throw his body in front of any unhappiness that might come his wife’s way. 

“Your Highness,” the double doors to the room opened and Marilee sank into a deep curtsy as she crossed the threshold. She was slim, blonde and beautiful. Though the product of an Elf-Fae marriage, only her deep, darkly expressive brown eyes hinted at her mixed parentage.

“Lady Marilee,” the King acknowledged with a bow of his head and held out his hand to help her rise.

“You honor our home by your visit.” She saw the serious expression on her husband’s face and began to worry. “I have much to occupy me. If you would like to discuss your business in the drawing room it is at your disposal.” She moved to curtsy again, but was stopped when Jareth laid his hand on her shoulder.

“Please stay. I need your assistance, yours and Galen’s.” He nodded as his aide cast a soundproofing spell to give them complete privacy. "It is a matter of the utmost importance and discretion."

Marilee moved quietly to the sofa beside her husband, unsure what was going on. In the past she had been asked to act as hostess when important dignitaries visited the Goblin Territories, but those occasions were usually planned well in advance. 

Jareth stood tall, unsure how to proceed. He could order his friends to do as he wished and he knew they would comply, but he needed them to help Sarah because it was what they wanted to do. “There are two new inhabitants at Corramar Estates. They are staying at the manor house tonight, but will return to your mother’s cottage tomorrow.”

“I hadn’t heard. Mama keeps her own council.” She and Galen had been trying to convince Ellamora to share their home with them since they were first married. They’d had a private wing added for her use. Even when Maia had been born five years ago, she had refused to leave her cottage on a permanent basis. “We usually spend Week’sendday with her, but she’d sent a message this morning saying she and Her Highness the Dowager Queen had some things to attend to and she wouldn’t be at home all day.”

“Marilee, I would like you to pay her a visit tomorrow afternoon. It is my wish,” Jareth cleared his throat and rephrased his request. “It is my hope that you can find it in your heart to befriend the woman, Sarah, and her younger brother, Toby, who are staying with her.”

“What is this about, Jareth?” Galen was getting a bad feeling.

Marilee blinked at her husband; even after ten years at his side, she couldn’t get used to the fact that he occasionally spoke to the Goblin King as an equal and that the king permitted it.

“Sarah and Toby are humans, newly arrived from the Aboveground.” 

“She’s a wisher-away?” Marilee gasped and covered her mouth when she realized her tone had been anything but respectful. “And she’s with mama?” Anyone who lived in the Underground and had contact with humans who accepted the Labyrinth challenge knew that they were often a dangerous lot. If they would mistreat their young, they would think nothing of harming a stranger.

“Yes…No…not exactly.” There was nothing to do but explain the entire situation to them. Even Galen hadn’t known about Sarah’s unusual trip through the Labyrinth six years earlier. Jareth had told no one and the goblins that lived in the city had such short memories that they were never sure what had happened when. Soon Sarah Williams’ adventure had been forgotten by all but a few creatures and one lonely Goblin King. Her story had been relegated to rumor or myth, but few believed it or knew which ruler had let a human slip past his guard. “What I’m about to tell you can go no further.” He looked at his subjects. “Aside from the damage it might do to me personally, there could be political ramifications if it were to reach the ears of the High Court of the Underground before I am ready for them to know about it.”

“And that’s the entire story. Unfortunately, I’m unsure of the ending.” Jareth sighed and took the last sip of his cognac. He could tell that Marilee was on his side. She’d melted into a romantic puddle almost from the beginning. Her Elf heritage was definitely showing. Where Fae tended to be more practical and straight-forward in matters of the heart, Elves were the weavers of dreams. They were commonsensical to a fault in everyday life, but were easily moved in matters of love were concerned.

“Of course we’ll help you, Your Highness, but I can’t lie to her.” She tried to smile. Part of her wished that Jareth had ordered her to be friends with the girl; now, if it didn’t happen, she’d feel as if she’d failed her King. “If you’ll excuse me for saying so, I don’t think it will help you if we manipulate her in any way.” Marilee leaned back against her husband’s reassuring arm. Advising royalty was his domain not hers, but she believed she understood the workings of the heart far better than he. 

“You are correct, Lady Marilee.” Jareth bowed his head in respect for her insight and honesty. “All I ask is that you try and befriend her, and give her any guidance you think might be necessary. The Underground is very different from where she comes from.”

“I’ll do my best. From what you say, both Her Highness the Dowager Queen and mama like her, so I am sure that it will be easy for me to do so as well.”

“Our mothers do have impeccable taste, don’t they?” Jareth straightened his vest and sat very tall. He knew that both his mother and Ellamora were exceedingly proud of their offspring. 

“Yes, they do.” She laughed outright at the King’s obvious posturing. Galen had told her for years that their ruler had a very dry sense of humor, but she’d always been in too much awe of him to see it.

“I must warn you that Sarah Williams has something of a stubborn streak and is not always easy to deal with.”

“I gathered as much,” Marilee’s eyes sparkled as she teased Jareth. It was unnecessary for her to add that if Sarah were a little less stubborn, she’d already be Queen.

“Humph.” The King’s brows rose in amused surprise at how quickly he found himself being bated. “I do believe that Galen is having a bad influence on you.” 

“Oh no, Your Majesty,” her voice softened as she leaned back against her husband and looked up into the face of the Fae who had captured her heart. “He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Er…well, yes…” Jareth was taken aback. Marilee had always showed great restraint when in public, but it warmed his heart to know that his friend was so well loved by this woman. He could only hope that someday he would have such joy with Sarah. “Give her a chance. If you forget she ever wished away a child then you should be all right.” The Goblin King was worried that even the kind-hearted Marilee might show innate prejudice where the human girl was concerned.

“But from what you say, she never really did…” she ground to a halt, realizing too late that it sounded as if she was criticizing her king. She wasn’t afraid of Jareth, but she respected him, the rule he exercised and the title he bore.

“You are quite right.” The tall blonde Fae took her hand and kissed her fingertips to show that he took no offense at her words. “All the more reason why no one should know what happened six years ago.” 

“Your Highness, I’ll look in on mama and her guests’ tomorrow afternoon, if that is soon enough for you.” Marilee looked from her husband’s worried blue eyes to the King’s odd mismatched ones. It was easy to see that they had more to discuss. She smiled and curtsied as she backed towards the door, her mind already busy thinking about tomorrow’s activities. “I’ll leave you two to conclude your business.”

Jareth watched as Galen stood to wrap his arm around his wife’s shoulders while he escorted her into the hall and the foot of the steps. The King grinned and felt his heart warm when his Aide leaned down to discreetly kiss Marilee on the temple. As he watched the couple in the hall, Jareth thought back to their younger days, when both he and his friend had been wild, free bachelors, who’d both declared that they’d never settle on one female when there were so many to choose from. Now Galen was blissfully happy with his wife and daughter, while Jareth longed for a human woman who might very well be his undoing.

Moments later Galen was back in the drawing room, facing his ruler. “Have you thought this through?” He leaned back against the closed double doors and ran his hand through his wavy dark blonde hair. “As your friend and as your advisor I need to ask.”

“I’ve done nothing but think about it for more years than I care to remember.” Jareth relaxed in his chair. “I drifted for decades believing I could settle for a bloodless marriage like so many of our kind, who don’t believe in the ancient writing.”

“When did you develop religion?” Galen chuckled.

“I’d hardly call it that. As my mother was quick to point out the other night, given who my parents were, how could I not believe that the Great Creator had a plan and His plan included a chosen one for each of us.” Jareth sighed. “But it wasn’t only my parents. Every time I would let myself think that I could settle for less, something stopped me.”

“Magic, faith, religion whatever you call it, it doesn’t matter. It’s all the same, believing in something that cannot be proven. In many ways, for those of us who possess power, it is the essence of what we are.” Galen knew Jareth was the most powerful Fae he’d ever met, and that was even before he’d inherited the magic of the Goblin Kings, which was contained in the Labyrinth. 

Jareth looked into his empty snifter and then at his friend. “I do not expect you to answer this question, either as your King or your friend, but I must posit for your consideration. Do you believe your feelings for your wife are any different than hers for you?” It was well known that Elves believed in love eternal.

“That is something I would be remiss in not answering.” Galen cleared his throat as the importance of the Goblin King’s words sunk in. “I had always believed her bloodlines called out to the ancient ways of my Fae ancestry. She is everything to me, though I fought it in the beginning.”

“I’ve believed for over one hundred years that my other half may not be Fae,” he grinned at his friend in anticipation of the response to what he was about to say. “When Marilee was first born I thought perhaps she…”

“Don’t even say it!” Galen stood, every possessive bone in his body on alert. “Because then I’d have to hit you and I have no wish to end up on trial for high treason!” 

Jareth crossed his arms and tried to look scandalized. “You show no such restraint when it comes to beating me in chess. What is the difference between a blow to the ego or the chin?” Finally, unable to hold in his mirth any longer he laughed.

“Jareth, I really don’t want to discuss my wife with you any further.”

“It’s easier than my lack of one.” All mirth was instantly wiped from the Goblin King’s face. “I tried to make myself not believe, but how does one do that? I knew that my Chosen One would be different, as surely as I know that the sky was blue.” Jareth shrugged in frustration. “There are certain finite principles in the worlds, which not even Great Oberon’s magic could have altered. I’m uncertain why I thought my temper tantrums could. I attempted to deny the truth for a long time. Then something changed in the fabric of the worlds around me and I knew she’d been born, but not here, not in the Underground.”

“Stop, Jareth.” He held up his hand. “You have my undying loyalty, and I think you know from tonight that you have Marilee’s as well, but the less we know the better. If the High Court ever tries to build a case against you, I want to perjure myself as little as possible. Whatever you do from now on, you are guaranteed my assistance, but the less premeditated it seems the better, especially since you let her run the Labyrinth when it wasn’t necessary. That in itself could be construed a misuse of power.”

“She had the correct words. I would have been remiss if I did not respond. Don’t make it sound as if I tried to get her to trade her innocence for her brother!” Jareth was aghast. “No Goblin King has ever done that.”

“No, the Kings haven’t, but then most of the girls hadn’t been innocent either. In the old times some of the stronger Fae lords used them for their own pleasures, often making promises they had no intention of keeping. It wasn’t until Lord Dennimar, early in your grandfather’s reign, was stabbed by one of those creatures and died from wounds made by an Aboveground iron blade that it was declared treason against the king for any being with power to interfere with a wisher-away running the Labyrinth. You, my friend, are on very shaky ground; about the only thing that saves you is that it is impossible to commit treason against oneself. Because from what you told us, you interfered!”

“I can’t tell you how much that has enriched my evening.” Jareth paced with one hand on his hip. With the other he pulled a crystal out of the air and rolled it in his palm.

“How many know?”

“That I love her?” Jareth looked into the crystal that contained Sarah’s dreams to satisfy himself that they hadn’t changed. “Only you, Marilee and my mother know for certain. Not much escapes Ellamora, so she probably has suspicions, but I doubt mother would confirm them.”

“You haven’t mentioned Sarah.” Galen grinned at the obvious lack of her name on the list.

“She knows it in here.” Jareth pointed to his heart. “But she has yet to accept it.”

“That should give us time to lay ground work.”

“There are three others who know that she wished away her brother six years ago, but I doubt they know how I feel and they are utterly loyal to Sarah.” The King thought of the friends Sarah had made on her last trip to the Underground. Since none of them had magic, they were exempt from the law and in Hoggle’s case, Jareth had used him in the past to misdirect runners. Goblin Kings over the centuries had let the lesser beings who were inhabitants of the Labyrinth lead many an unsuspecting human around in circles.

“Who are they?”

“They’re an odd lot to have joined together to help her, but then Sarah wasn’t the usual wisher-away.” Jareth shrugged and as so many times before wondered how she had succeeded in uniting the three. “They are Sir Didymus, Hoggle of the Labyrinth Gate and Ludo the Rock Conjurer.”

“It sounds like you had a minor rebellion on your hands. If this girl was able to sway the devotions of the likes of Sir Didymus, the sooner you marry her, and secure her loyalties to the crown, the better I’ll feel.” Galen thought carefully about all he knew of the other two. 

“I’m glad to know you always have my best interests at heart. But it wasn’t a rebellion, minor or otherwise!” The King crossed his arms and glared.

“If you say so,” he grinned at his friend’s discomfort. “From a political stance, I don’t think you have anything to worry about from Didymus. He would give his life before dishonoring his king, despite his feelings for the girl.” Galen shook his head and laughed. “That shrewd old fox would find a way to pledge fealty to both of you and dishonor no one. The Rock Conjurer has no credibility with the High Court. We can be thankful the other nobles don’t understand his power. It is the Dwarf that worries me.”

“He has no love for me, but he cares deeply for Sarah and I am beginning to gain respect for him.” It had taken great courage for Hoggle to swallow his pride and come to Jareth, but he’d done it because he feared for Sarah. “I doubt he will do or say anything that would harm or upset her.”  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night Galen wandered through his home, his mind in turmoil. For the first time since he’d accepted the job of advisor and aide to the king he felt at odds. For the first time the advice he would give his best friend, Jareth, was different from what he would proffer to the ruler of the Goblin Territories.

With a sigh he went upstairs, undressed and climbed into bed next to his wife.

“Galen, I was beginning to think you weren’t coming to bed,” Marilee sleepily turned over and laid her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I had some thinking to do,” he kissed her forehead and pulled her supple, naked body closer to his. “When you go to visit your mother tomorrow, don’t take Maia with you.”

“You have doubts about the human woman?”

“I don’t know what to think, except that our daughter is too young to be around anyone who may have wished away a child.” He covered her body with his and cupped her face between his hands, worry for his family clearly written on his face.

“But he explained that.”

“Did he, or did he see what he wanted to see?”

“You’re really worried about Jareth, aren’t you?” She slowly rubbed tension from his neck, her fingers straying up into his hair and down his back.

“Yes. I am afraid he may abdicate if the High Court forbids a union between a human and the Goblin King.”

“They have no reason to interfere. She is from the Above and cannot affect the balance of power here Below, especially after she has been here long enough to develop magic.” Marilee insisted. 

“The Court has been after him to marry for decades and more than one Lord has a daughter or niece whom he has rejected. They might decide to take action in an attempt to bring him under tighter control.” Galen was worried for his friend.

“The service he provides to the Underground is unparalleled. I know of no one with Royal blood or otherwise who has any desire to deal with the the wished-aways or the Goblins.” Marilee insisted. “All of his subjects are devoted to him and he has no heir. Doesn’t anyone realize there could be all out war if they push him too far.” 

“Jareth has always taken his responsibilities seriously.” Galen rested his head on her breasts and let her fingers dance over his skin. “It’s almost as if she has bewitched him.”

“Humans directly from the Aboveground have no powers until the magic seeps into their being. That takes time and acceptance of our beliefs and culture. The little ones who come to us as babes gain no powers until puberty, just as all children who are conceived and nurtured here. It’s a simple matter of biology. If he really loves her and she him. He must fight for her.” Marilee kissed his brow. 

“Remember how it was for us eleven years ago?” he asked. “All the more reason I am so sure he will renounce his throne before he will give up Sarah.” He looked into his wife’s deep brown eyes. She never knew how close it had been for them or that without Jareth’s unwavering support he would have had to choose between the woman who was his heart, and the task of adviser to the being he loved as a brother. Marilee was of mixed blood and, many had believed, was therefore unfit to be the wife of a man who had so much influence with the King of the Goblins.

“Then if she truly returns his love, she will not let that happen; no female would, not to the man who is the center of her being.” She held Galen tighter to her. She knew how easily she could have lost him before they had even had a chance to be together and the thought of it still had the power to frighten her.

“You knew?”

“Of course. If the ruling by the High Court hadn’t gone our way I would have been over the border into the Elf lands before you knew I was missing.” She kissed him deeply to take the sting out of her words. “You would never have found me.” 

“My darling, how can you have shared my life and my bed for ten years and yet doubt that anything would have kept me from you?” He grinned devilishly at her, his blue eyes twinkling as he straightened his arms and ground his hips against her softness. “Not all the magic in all the worlds could have kept you hidden from me. Unfortunately, Sarah has no such option. The outcome of this romance is in the hands of The Goblin King and the High Court.” Galen’s voice grew hoarse with desire as he reached to spread her thighs and then ducked his head to take one rosy-tipped nipple into his mouth.

“I love you,” Marilee cried out and rocked against his hardness nestled between her thighs. She would think about Sarah’s problem tomorrow, tonight belonged to her husband.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah turned over in the large bed and stretched. For a moment she didn’t know where she was and didn’t care. She felt wonderful. No aches and pains, no odd worries tugging at her heart, but best of all, no pangs of longing or fear. With a sigh she lay very still and waited for her mind to clear and reality to reassert itself. The reality she’d lived with for the last six years: that everything she’d ever wanted had been offered to her and she’d gladly traded it away for the safety of her younger brother, though the price had been much higher than she’d realized at the time. But this morning all she felt was peace and tranquility. ‘Am I still asleep and this is all a dream?’ she wondered as she blinked sleep out of her eyes and forced them open.

“Ohhh,” she gasped as she looked around the large, grandly appointed room. It wasn’t a dream, she really was in the Underground, and Jareth was really alive! She quickly looked at her left arm that had been pock-marked with burns and reached to feel the right side of her neck, where yesterday there had been a nasty blister running from her chin to her collarbone. They were gone! He’d really done as he’d promised and healed her injuries. With a sleepy grin, she realized that he’d also given her a night of uninterrupted sleep.

“Yes!” She jumped from her bed and danced around the large room. “Oh, thank you, thank you,” she clasped her hands in front of her breasts, unsure if she was praying to the God of her youth, who she had felt had deserted her as punishment for killing a Goblin King; to the King himself, now most decidedly not dead, or some other entity that held the universe together.

But as quickly as her dancing had started, her feet slowed and she sighed as she remembered the rest. Her father and Karen had died in the fire. Sarah’s breath caught in her throat. That part was real. The fire was real. At least she’d been able to protect Toby. “Toby!” she gasped the boy’s name and looked quickly around the room for any indication that he’d been there.

There was a truckle bed on the far side of her bed, but it hadn’t been slept in. Her eyes quickly scanned the room. There was a small indentation on the pillow beside hers and the child’s leather vest had been discarded beside it. “Then that part hadn’t been a dream.” she whispered. She squinted her eyes to bring the illusive memory to the surface, but even then it was buried in deep fog. She couldn’t quite make it materialize. It was more a feeling than a picture in her mind of Toby climbing into bed beside her and curling his back against hers. She shook her head and could almost hear the sound of her brother and the Goblin King talking. “No!” She couldn’t believe that had really happened. If she did, then she’d have to accept that Jareth had stood over her and watched her sleep after putting Toby to bed.

The sound of timid knocking on her door brought her out of her reverie.

“Who is it?” Sarah called out and jumped back under the covers, pulling the sheet up to her chin. She blushed when she remembered Jareth sitting inches away from her on the bed the night before. One glace down her front and her worst fears were confirmed, the dark areolas around her nipples were distinct shadows under the soft, almost transparent, material of the white undershift she’d slept in. ‘Well he’d gotten a show last night,’ she sighed to herself. ‘Thank goodness he was a gentleman.’ Her thoughts froze. This new piece of information only added to her confusion. The Goblin King she remembered was no one’s definition of a gentleman!

The timid knock came again and jolted Sarah back to the present. “Who is it?” One thing Sarah was sure of was that it wasn’t Jareth at her door this morning. He may have developed manners over the years, but he didn’t posses a timid bone in his body. 

The door slowly opened to reveal a small Goblin, her arms full of clothes. “Lady Sarah,” she blinked at the woman in the bed. “My name is Rinda and Her Highness said I was to see if you were awake and draw your bath. Since you didn’t bring your lady’s maid with you, I can care for your needs until she arrives.” 

“Ahhh…she’s not coming. I…ahh…don’t actually have one.” Sarah blinked at the small creature.

“Land sakes, I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Rinda shook her head. All the ladies who came to visit Her Highness had at least one lady’s maid. She could remember a few that had more than one.

“But a bath would be great.” Sarah added quickly. “If it isn’t too much trouble?”

“Yes ma’am,” she looked at Sarah quizzically. “The bathing area is behind that screen.” She pointed to one corner of the room. “Ellamora Kilhaggen sent you these,” Rinda held up a dress cut much like the one Sarah had been wearing, only this one was a soft purple. There was also a clean undershift and a pair of flat-heeled leather shoes.

Later when Sarah stepped out from behind the screen, her hair was wrapped in a towel and she was wearing the clean undershift. 

“You need this too, my Lady,” Rinda handed her a small vial. “His Majesty told me that you was too put it all over you. He said it’s for your burns.” She looked the girl over with new interest. The King had said this human had been injured in a fire, but she didn’t see any evidence of it. More importantly he’d given the order himself, it hadn’t come through Mistress Ellamora or even the housekeeper. “His Highness told me to warn you that a few drops go a long way.”

“You got this from the Goblin King?” Her mind went blank.

“He’s the only king we follow in these parts.” She nodded with satisfaction. “You sit down over here and I’ll take care of it for you.” Rinda guided Sarah to a seat at the dressing table and took the vial from the girl’s fingers. “While you’re here at Corramar Manor, I’ll be glad to see to your needs.” Rinda wasn’t sure what to make of this human who was fresh from the Aboveworld, she’d had very little contact with beings like that and what little she’d had was not to be recommended. The goblin knew it was different with the humans who lived among them. They were the little lost ones that the King brought back from his wanderings. They were loved and guarded as all children of the Underground. The fact that they’d been born somewhere else was never spoken of.

“That’s very kind of you,” the fragrance of the oil that Jareth had sent her filled her nostrils and made her think of a spring morning. As the little goblin massaged it into her neck and arms it took all her effort not to moan. It would be too easy to picture the pale slim hands that she’d seen for the first-time last night moving over her skin.

“There that should do you, my lady,” Rinda nodded in satisfaction as she put the small vial down on the dressing table. “Would you like me to dress your hair for you?’’

“No, thank you, I can take care of it myself,” Sarah reached for the brush, embarrassed and unsure of what the little lady’s maid expected of her.

“Then I’ll take your soiled linen and return to show you down to breakfast. The others have already eaten, but master Toby will be glad to see you.” As she talked the little goblin went to the bathing area and picked up the undershift Sarah had slept in and to the chair to gather up her dress from the day before. “Oh my lady….” Rinda gasped her hand outstretched above the blue Elf dress. 

“What is it? What’s the matter?” Sarah looked over and saw the crystal that Jareth had left for her the night before. “I thought I’d dreamt that, though he did promise me no dreams.” she murmured, her eyes half shut.

“It would be unfitting for me to touch His Majesty’s magic.” The maid’s hand shook slightly and she blinked at the woman who was now standing beside her. Suddenly the human’s presence in the Underground took on new importance.

Sarah quickly slipped into the dress she’d been given and picked up the crystal. It was as cool and light as she’d remembered from the night before. “It’s nothing really, just a little something he…” Then she remembered his words of warning, but she’d assumed he’d been kidding her about not telling others of the gift he’d given her, what if he hadn’t been. “It’s nothing…just a bauble really.” She smiled weakly and placed the offending object in her pocket.

“It’s not ‘nothing’! His Highness doesn’t give his magic away lightly, my lady. It’s a special gift to be honored, passed down from one generation to the next, is a gift from a Goblin King.” Rinda looked at the human woman with new respect and wonder. She’d never heard of King Jareth being so generous. This woman was not who she seemed, despite her lack of a lady’s maid.   
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sarah,” Toby ran to her as she came down the stairs. “I’ll show her the way, Rinda,” he called enthusiastically as he hugged his sister.

“Very well, master Toby.” the maid nodded her assent and went on her way towards the back of the house.

“She calls me master,” the boy giggled and hugged her again. “You look more like yourself this morning!”

“I’m feeling much better, Big Guy,” she ran her hand through his blonde hair and wrapped her arm around him tightly enjoying his familiar little boy smell. 

“The King said you would be.” He grabbed her hand and examined her left arm. “He said you let him fix your burns.” 

“You’ve spoken with him?” Sarah stopped suddenly and gripped the crystal that was in her pocket. It made no sense that Jareth would seek out her brother, if she’d been told the truth the night before.

“Yeah, last night and again this morning.” Suddenly Toby remembered the small brown bear he’d left in the dining room and became serious. “He…somehow he was able to get Lancelot for me,” the child’s voice broke when he thought how good it had felt to hug the worn old stuffed animal he’d believed lost in the fire. “He says he’s got something for you, too.” 

“I’ll just bet he has.” Doubt filled Sarah. What new trick was the king trying to pull? “Is he still here?” She lost any appetite she’d had at the mentioned of the Goblin King and Lancelot. The two were welded together in her mind along with a seemingly endless Saturday night late in the spring she’d been fifteen. The Jareth from the night before had been so different from the one in the past, it made her shake her head in doubt. She had a sudden need to see him in the light of day and discover if the changes were real or only her imagination. 

“He’s in the back, but no one is supposed to know what he’s doing,” Toby smiled. “I think he’s going to ride Moonbeam. The Dowager Queen is in her study pretending she doesn’t know he’s here and he said I was to go along with the game. The King said his mother worries about him.” The boy rolled his eyes in wonder that anyone would worry about a being that had the power and strength of the Goblin King. “He didn’t say I couldn’t tell you, though.”

“Where is he, show me!” Sarah turned and then turned again, unsure of which direction to go.

“I don’t think he wanted anyone to watch except the groom who is helping him. His Highness sent me up to the house.” Toby was suddenly unsure what to do. As much as he wanted to see what was going on and do as Sarah asked, there was something about Jareth that made him believe it was unwise not to follow his orders. It was the same eerie feeling the boy had had from the previous night, almost as if he’d met the Fae lord before.

“Toby…” Sarah moved around him and headed towards the front door. If her brother wouldn’t help her, she would find the way herself.

“Wait, Sarah, this way. That way takes forever.” Curiosity and loyalty to Sarah won out as Toby grabbed her hand and led her out the back way.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah blinked at the bright sunny morning. When they rounded the stable, the land sloped away until it was met by a green pasture surrounded by an aged gray wood fence. Jareth was talking quietly to a white unicorn that was as tall in the shoulder as he was. They were joined by a short dark-haired man who kept shaking his head, even as he placed his hands for the King as an aid to mounting.

As soon as the Goblin King was seated, the groom jumped over the fence and out of the way. For a moment nothing happened, and then suddenly Moonbeam reared up on his hind legs in preparation for a huge leap into the air. On landing he turned quickly to the left and then the right, but Jareth was as determined to ride the unicorn as the animal was to unseat him.

Over to the right Sarah saw a small sable-colored mare standing inside the pasture fence, watching the antics of the two males. The horse nickered softly and shook her lovely head. As if in response to whatever Magic said, Moonbeam took three trotting steps and kicked up his hind legs, catching Jareth completely by surprise, sending him flying head over heels.

“Go back to the house, Toby!” Sarah demanded. She didn’t want her brother to watch. He’d seen too much violence in the last week.

“But…”

“Do as I say.” When Sarah used that tone of voice Toby knew better than to argue. All the way up to the house he muttered under his breath about overbearing sisters and how unfair it was that she could watch and he couldn’t.

Sarah never took her eyes off Jareth. One instant he was sailing through the air, the next he disappeared. She blinked, unsure of what had happened. By the time her eyes were open again; he had reappeared standing three feet in front of Moonbeam, his hands clenched on his hips and a sour expression on his face. The only physical evidence that the Goblin King was doing more than quietly observing the animal was his hair in complete disarray and the fact he was dressed in only snug fitting breeches, boots and an open-neck ivory shirt. She could hear him speaking, but didn’t understand the language he was using, though the tone was very clear. Suddenly she began to laugh.

“Are you laughing at me, young woman?” Jareth turned and glared at her with one eyebrow cocked.

“Yes,” she shook her head and laughed harder as she made her way to the pasture fence and climbed onto the bottom rung. She held onto the smooth flat surface of the lovely old wood and rested her chin on its satiny surface. 

“Humph, well I’m glad I can be a source of entertainment to you this morning.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes and grabbed Moonbeam’s reins again. Before the unicorn, Sarah, or the startled groom knew what had happened, the King transported himself into the saddle. “All right you beastly creature, one more time!”

The battle between Fae and unicorn lasted longer this time. Sarah climbed the fence until she could sit on the top rung, unable to take her eyes off what was happening. Her hands were clenched and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out each time Moonbeam leapt in the air. She was caught by surprise when Magic walked up to her and rested her head in her lap.

“They really are a silly pair,” Sarah murmured as she ran her hand over the horse’s muzzle and scratched her between the ears. “I just hope your boyfriend doesn’t do any permanent damage to Jareth.” Before the words were out of her mouth, the great unicorn gave a high-pitched snort and leaped into the air. For a matter of seconds both the animal and his rider vanished. When Moonbeam reappeared, the King of the Goblins was sailing straight up into the air, hair flying. He twisted around as quickly as a cat and got his feet under him and then floated to the ground twenty feet from where they had both disappeared.

“You’re going to kill yourself,” Sarah laughed, her green eyes, filled with mirth, met his angry frown. Magic, who was leaning up against the human whinnied her agreement.

In a flash of white, Moonbeam wheeled around on his hind legs, suddenly aware that he’d left his soon-to-be mate to her own devices. The stallion let loose a sound rarely heard in captivity: the call of challenge from one male unicorn to another. His head went down to maximize the use of his long deadly horn and he charged the creature that dared touch what was soon to be his. 

“Sarah!” Jareth cried out. “Get down and away from the horse!” As quickly as the words were out of his mouth he transported himself to Sarah’s side.

From Sarah’s perspective everything happened in slow motion. A strange howl filled the air, followed by Jareth’s panicked shout. She knew she was in danger, but couldn’t get her body to move fast enough. Even the ankle-length skirt of her dress worked against her, making her movements slow and uncoordinated. The thunder of hoof beats filled her ears as Moonbeam galloped towards her at a furious pace. The world righted itself when Jareth reappeared on the fence beside her. She felt him grab her around the waist as they tumbled off the fence together and landed in a heap on the ground with his body covering hers. Though it was Magic that prevented the angry unicorn from catapulting over the fence in pursuit of his victim, it was the Goblin King to whom Sarah clung.

The little sable horse wheeled around and blocked Moonbeam’s forward momentum. The unicorn came skidding to an undignified halt to keep from knocking her over. All the while she snorted at him, with an occasional nicker emphasized by the stomp of her right foreleg. Whatever Magic said and the defiant stance of her body combined to completely cow the much larger unicorn.

As the world quieted around them, Jareth looked over his shoulder but all he saw was a horse and a unicorn rubbing noses. “I must say, one thing that hasn’t changed about you is your knack for getting into trouble.” He looked down at Sarah’s frightened face, inches from his. Beneath him he could feel her heart pounding and her soft curves pressing against his harder contours. “I believe that you were warned years ago that things are not always what they seem.”

“Ahhh…well…” Sarah cleared her throat, not sure if it was fear from what had almost happened, or the feel of Jareth’s body pressing into hers that left her breathless and unable to speak. Her eyes flicked to his face, then his chest where one small droplet of sweat was slowly making its way from the curve of his neck across planes of bare compact muscle to be lost in the deep-V of his shirt, where his body met hers. She had an irrational longing to feel that small bead of water fall against her skin. Her eyes fluttered with all senses on alert, waiting, needing, wanting. She almost groaned in disappointment when it soaked into the ruffled edge of his shirt. 

His lips twitched in anticipation as he watched her watch him. One small movement on his part and her lips would be his and he doubted it would stop there. He knew the effect he had on women, and had used it to his advantage for hundreds of years. But this was his Sarah, the woman he’d waited centuries for, not some casual interlude who could be used and discarded when she no longer relieved the boredom of his wait.

It took great effort, but Jareth pulled back and reached out a gloved hand to Sarah to help her to her feet. Now that his body was no longer pressing against hers and his desires were cooling, the enormity of what had happened sent trembling fear and anger through him. “You must be more careful! You’re in the Underground, now.”

“I know, I know,” Sarah fought embarrassment, and held her hands tightly at her sides to keep from hiding her face behind them. Moments earlier she had been caught in a wash of desire for the Goblin King, now all she wanted to do was run away and hide. “I’m well aware of the dangers here. I’m not fifteen any longer.” 

“No, you certainly are not fifteen,” he ran one gloved hand over her cheek and tucked a lock of hair gently behind her ear. “But I sincerely doubt you have a thorough understanding of all the dangers.” His eyes sparked as they were lit with desire once again.

“You may be right. I’m still trying to get used to the idea that Toby and I will never return to the Aboveground.” Sarah shook her head in doubt, unable to talk about the deaths of her dad and Karen, though she knew she needed to because Toby had to be told.

“We can take care of one of those dangers right now.” Jareth smiled and took her hand as he led her back to the fence where a horse and a unicorn were placidly waiting for them. “You’ve already met Magic. Since she has taken such an obvious liking to you, it would be wise to meet Moonbeam as well. I have no desire to leave the matter of your safety up to her. She will be coming into season in a matter of weeks and once that happens, even she will not be able to talk reason into her mate’s thick head.”

“He’s beautiful, and not the least bit thick headed.” Sarah smiled when she thought how much Fae and unicorn were alike. Both were stubborn, demanding, and determined to have their own way. “You just say that because he is too independent to let you ride him.”

“You call him independent, but since he met that little brown filly I call him…I call him…” He sputtered to a stop. The expression he would have used was not one for the company of ladies. “You didn’t see the way Magic stopped him in his tracks when he would have attacked you. That unicorn is led around by his…nose…by a small dark-haired horse that is less than half his age and posses no powers.” Jareth smiled with pride that he’d found an adequate substitute for the part of the unicorn’s anatomy that was guiding Moonbeam.

Sarah fought to stifle a fit of giggles that were shaking her from the inside-out. The Goblin King may have said one thing, but it had been as clear as day what he really meant. “Too bad you can’t convince Magic to put in a good word for you.”

“It is beneath my dignity to even answer that.” He turned on his heel and reached over to where his vest was folded neatly on the top of the fence. “Well, do you want to meet him or not?” He shrugged into the garment, but left it unfastened as he held out his hand to the woman who was still laughing.

“Very much so, thank you.” She nodded and stepped closer to the huge animal, glad for the reassuring hold she had on Jareth’s hand.

“Moonbeam,” he spoke softly and rubbed the unicorn’s neck with the hand not holding Sarah’s. “This is Sarah Williams. She’s human, but don’t hold that against her.” Jareth could see the woman at his side bristle and he grinned. “She’s taken a fancy to Magic and it appears as if your beloved returns the affection.” The rest of what Jareth said was in a language that no Abovegrounder had ever heard, but the words soothed the stallion and he stepped closer to sniff Sarah’s shoulder.

“Hello there,” she trembled when she realized how huge the unicorn really was and how deadly his horn could have been. Unconsciously she held tighter to Jareth’s hand. “I didn’t mean any harm to Magic. She’s beautiful and I know you love her. I’m sorry I startled you.”

All the time she was talking, Moonbeam was trying to place the strange mix of smells he picked up from the small woman. The strongest was the overwhelmingly wonderful scent of his lady. Then there was the safe, secure one of the Fae who had saved his life as a colt and earned his undying allegiance, though that allegiance didn’t extend to allowing himself to be ridden. There was the slight spice of the young boy from the night before. Under all that was something soft and subtle. The unicorn sniffed Sarah’s neck and hair, again, to be sure this was the scent that belonged to her, alone. He recognized it as the one he’d picked up lingering traces of on Jareth’s clothes and hands the night before.

Moonbeam pulled back and looked the Goblin King in the eyes, understanding the importance of the female in front of him. With a slight nod of his head and a shrug Jareth acknowledged his feelings for Sarah. But even he was caught by surprise when the white beast bowed his great horned head to Sarah.

“What…?” She was speechless and unsure what to do.

“It appears that he has accepted you,” Jareth whispered in her ear. He was tempted to add ‘as my Chosen One,’ but was smart enough to refrain.

Needing to do something in keeping with the courtly gesture the magical animal had accorded her, she pulled her hand free of Jareth’s and curtsied deeply.

“Well I’ll be, I’s never seen the likes of it.” The groom had been watching the strange goings-on from a safe distance. “She bewitched him, she did.”

“Jayord,” Jareth called out as he reached down and helped Sarah straighten. “I’ve finished riding for today,” his lips curled at the use of the word, it was hardly what he did during the few seconds Moonbeam let him stay on his back, but it was necessary to keep up the illusion of being in control. “You may remove his saddle and harness.”

“Ahhh…yes Your Majesty,” he bowed and hopped the fence, glad that the Goblin King was there to calm the animal while he removed the tack and gave the unicorn a quick rubdown. All the time he worked he watched over the white back as the human female patted and murmured to Magic. “The lady has a way with that little brown mare.”

“It would appear so,” Jareth watched with eyes that missed nothing as Sarah whispered in Magic’s ear and ran her fingers through the sable mane.

“It might come in handy over the next few weeks, if you know what I mean, Your Highness.” The groom loved the animals under his care and had been worried about what would happen when these two finally mated. Moonbeam was going to be surly and more difficult than usual in the days before. Jayord doubted that anyone except the Goblin King would be able to manage him. “That big white beastie of yours is going to be mighty skittish when he picks up the scent of his lady in season and that little mare is going to need someone she can trust.”

“The lady Sarah is not a stable hand.” Jareth knew he was going to have his hands full taking care of Moonbeam when the time came. There was no one else whom the unicorn would allow near him. If he didn’t have to worry about Magic’s care as well, he could get back to the business of running the Goblin Territories in a matter of hours versus days. But he didn’t want Sarah reduced to that kind of work. 

“Jareth…” Sarah stopped suddenly realizing her error when she saw the shocked look on the groom’s face. No one else called the King of the Goblins by his given name; she doubted even the Dowager Queen did except in private. “Ahh Your Highness…I’d be glad to help…it would give me a way to…” she ground to a halt when Jareth glared at her.

“I will discuss the matter with Lady Sarah, since she appears to have no objections and would find it a pleasant way to pass the time.” He nodded as he buttoned his vest and the groom helped him into his dark frockcoat that had been folded beside the vest on the fence. “I appreciate your suggestion and attention to detail, Jayord.” With a nod he offered Sarah his arm and they walked to the gate and up the hill.

“What was that all…”

“Hush, not here, sounds carry, we might be overheard.” Jareth led Sarah away from the kitchen garden and manor house. They climbed a gentle hill to a small glade beside an inlet. Long graceful branches of weeping willow trees, with their leaves just popping out of their buds, danced in the breeze. The ground was covered with green grass that was dotted with bright colors from early spring flowers. Tucked in the shade of one of the largest trees was a wooden bench, just big enough for two, facing the water.

“Oh my, what a beautiful place,” Sarah sighed and leaned back to sniff the air. “It almost smells like the ocean.”

“That’s because it is,” Jareth smiled at the lovely relaxed look that filled her face. “This is a small arm of a much larger bay. Goblin’s Landing, the main city for trade and commerce in the Goblin Territories is about half a day’s journey by land, though by ship it can be traveled much faster. Most beings forget that Landing City is facing east,” he pointed to the snow-capped mountains and land that went on for thousands of leagues on the other side of the water. “But the mouth of the Bay faces west on the great ocean.” 

“Hmmm, it’s lovely.” She let the peace and tranquility of the place wrap around her and wash away her jangled nerves from moment earlier. “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s just what I needed.”

“This spot is one of my favorites.” He guided her to the bench.

“I could tell by the way you spoke of it.” She was glad when he sat beside her, though missed the excuse to keep her hand in the crook of his arm. “This place, this land, these people, they mean everything to you.”

“I’m their king.” Jareth turned so he could see her face, his arm draped casually along the back of the bench. “But I wouldn’t say that they mean everything to me.” That was reserved for the woman beside him, but she was still too confused and hurt to know her own feelings, let alone his.

He could see more questions crowded behind her eyes and decided to forestall them until he had a better idea of how well his treatment from the night before had worked. “Let me see your neck and arm.” He gently ran his gloved hand up the right side of her neck, where a nasty blister had been the night before, while he held her other hand, his thumb absent-mindedly caressing her wrist. “You’re looking much better. The skin is still a bit pink. I suggest you borrow a hat from Ellamora to protect the newly healed areas from the sun and keep your arms covered.” He pulled the long sleeve of her Elf-style dress back into place.

“I’ll remember that.” Green eyes met mismatched ones as Sarah tried to make sense out of the being beside her. She couldn’t stop the questions from tumbling out. “Why are you so different from the last time I was here?” 

“I could ask the same of you.” He sighed when he realized that she was going to keep digging until she had some answers and he doubted she was ready to hear what he had to say. “Let’s just say neither of us are the same and leave it at that for the time being.” His voice had a note of finality that his subjects would have recognized as an order, but it only made Sarah more determined to discover what she wanted to know.

“Jareth…Your Highness…I’m sorry, this is hard,” she half smiled, unused to dealing with a class system. “For six years I’ve thought of you as Jareth.” The more she explained the more frustrated she became. Words that were better left unsaid popped out and she was unable to pull them back. She’d thought of him a great deal, but she’d thought of him as dead, killed when she uttered the words that won Toby’s freedom. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t really matter if he knew that he’d never been far from her thoughts.

“It’s all right.” He smiled, warmed that she’d thought of him over the years. “There is no one to hear you but me. You may use my given name in private or when there is only family around, though it would be unwise in public.”

“Who are you really?” For years Sarah had thought she knew exactly who the Goblin King was. When she was younger she’d hated him for what he’d made her feel, for the choice he’d made her make. As she grew older she realized that life was a series of choices and how you lived with the results revealed almost as much about you as the choices themselves. “Do you regret taking Toby?”

“Taking wished-away human children is one of my duties.” He’d hoped he’d be able to put off this discussion until Sarah had been in the Underground a bit longer, but she was as stubborn as ever and needed answers. “My only regret is that I was forced to deceive you in the process.”

“How exactly did you deceive me?” Her eyes turned hard and cold. She wanted to believe the kind being who had cured her burns and calmed her fears was the real Jareth, but anyone who would take children from their homes and turn them into goblins was evil through and through.

With a sigh he pulled Sarah’s copy of the Labyrinth out of the inner pocket of his coat and handed it to her. “When the Goblin Kings take the children, it is for their protection, and they aren’t turned into goblins, but given good homes with childless Fae families. The lie is written in the book.”

“Then why…? 

“Because once a child is wished-away, the challenge must be offered. It is the ancient law of Oberon. I could do nothing to change it.” It wasn't the entire truth, because he'd known at the time that Sarah should not have been able to wish Toby away. It had been his chance to have her in the Underground and he'd grabbed it with both hands.

Sarah shook her head in doubt, unsure what to believe. She gripped the book with both hands and caressed its binding. “This looks exactly like my copy,” she muttered and opened it. Her stomach leapt to her throat when she saw her drawings on the inner cover. “It is mine, where did you get it? That means the bear you gave Toby is the real Lancelot, though there isn’t a mark on him. You were there…when….how?”

“The repairs to your book and Toby’s bear required only a small spell.” Jareth knew he couldn’t have returned them as he’d found them. Both had smelled almost overpoweringly of smoke and had been covered in blackened burn marks. “You needn’t worry, I was especially careful with Lancelot. Toby wouldn’t have recognized him if I’d restored him completely.” He didn’t understand the value human children placed on well-used stuffed animals, when he could as easily restore them to perfect condition. He only knew it was true and a subject he would much rather discuss with Sarah than the fire.

“Please, I appreciate all you’ve done for us,” her voice cracked and she clutched her book to her chest. “But I need to know…”

“No, you don’t.” He shook his head as he remembered the nightmare her bedroom had been and what he’d suffered thinking she’d burned to death. “I’d erase it from your memory if I thought it would relieve your sorrow.”

“Please, Jareth,” she whispered and gripped his hand, needing to feel contact with another being.

“All right, all right, you win.” He shrugged, knowing he could never deny her anything she really wanted. “The evening after the fire, Hoggle came to see me. He, Ludo and Sir Didymus had been looking for the Underground entrance to the portal that led to your mirror. They’d been searching all day with no success.” Jareth went on to tell Sarah about that night. He tried to be as sparing in detail as possible, but from the way she would occasionally shudder, he knew that she was hurt deeply by his words. “I’m sorry Sarah. There was nothing I could do. At the time I believed your entire family had died in the fire. I never thought to look in the Underground for you and your brother. Last night after I left you, I sent out further searcher spells to all the seven worlds for your parents, just in case…”

“But they found nothing?” She shivered and stood, needing to think. It would be too easy to rest her head on his shoulder as she’d done the night before and let him comfort her. But she had a new life to make for what was left of her family and the sooner she started the better.

“No, your father and stepmother are no longer in the worlds of the living; beyond that, even my magic cannot search.” He didn’t tell her what he’d learned on a second trip to her world: that her home had been deliberately burned to kill her father. Nor about the other spell he’d sent out, the one to find any who were responsible and see they never harmed anyone again. Though his magic was strong, he would never use it to kill, unless to protect his land or his people, so he had crafted an interesting little spell. Those responsible for the burning of the Williams’ home would long for death to take them as nightmares of fire and fear haunted them every time they tried to sleep. It would be a living death from which there would be no escape. “I took the liberty of informing Toby. He had questions last night that needed to be answered and you were in no state to do it.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Sarah cleared her throat and turned to face the King. “I owe you a great deal, but I must ask one more favor.”

“Sarah, don’t…” He wanted to reach for her and hold her close, but the dead look in her eyes stopped him. She needed to heal on the inside. He’d taken care of the outer scars, now only she could take care of the inner ones.

“I need a job,” she shrugged and pointed to the book in her arms. “I doubt the Underground has much use for a graphic designer or even an illustrator. Toby and I need to eat and a place to live. We can’t stay at Ellamora’s indefinitely.”

“My mother was hoping you would. She worries about that old Elf. Of course if you took the job working with Magic, you could have your own cottage on the estate.”

“Jar…Your Highness,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “I said I need to earn my keep, not be given it. I need to feel useful again.”

“Believe me, you would earn it. Magic can be difficult despite what you saw today. Though I think you are a good match, you’re just as stubborn as she is.” He shrugged as he considered the logistics. “If you chose to stay with Ellamora it would be closer to the village school for Toby, and the walk over the hill to Corramar would only take you about ten minutes.”

“I think I would enjoy working with Magic, though I don’t ride and know very little about horses.” She sighed, knowing the decision of where they would live had been made as soon as Jareth mentioned the proximity of Ellamora’s to a school for Toby. 

“Your most important qualification is that both Moonbeam and Magic trust and like you. Jayord, mother’s head groom, can teach you all you need to know.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Sarah moved to curtsy, but Jareth stopped her by grabbing her hand.

“Please, Sarah, we’ve known each other too long for formalities in private.” For one moment both looked at the other with clear eyes seeing all there was to see. Then Sarah closed her eyes and erected a wall around her heart. Everything she’d believed and worked for was gone or different. It was too much to ask to add any more uncertainty to her future.

“Your Highness,” the Dowager Queen’s butler stood twenty feet away and cleared his throat. “I am sorry to interrupt, Your Highness, but you have a message from Lord Galen.” He came forward and handed the king a folded piece of paper.

“Thank you, Chazel.” He carefully read what Galen had written. “Send a message to His Lordship and inform him I will attend to this matter before I return to the Castle.” He sighed, and quickly looked at his clothes; at least they were still clean. Since he was needed at the repair site for the aqueducts, it didn’t matter that he came directly from the stables. 

“Very well, Your Majesty.” He bowed to his king and then turned to Sarah.

“Lady Sarah, you have visitors.”

“I do?” She was surprised, and unsure who they could be.

“Yes, my lady, a Knight, a Rock Conjurer and a Dwarf, they are on the side lawn with master Toby.”

“Sir Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle,” she grinned. “But what are they doing with Toby? He shouldn’t…they shouldn’t…” She looked up at Jareth, unsure what to do. What if they had told her brother about his earlier visit to the Labyrinth?

“What is the meaning of this?” Jareth stood tall, straightening first one glove and then the other. Anyone who knew him well understood that was a sign of disapproval, often followed by a large splash in the Bog of Eternal Stench. “The boy was to be watched carefully.”

“We could not stop him, Your Majesty, even Ellamora tried, but he slipped through our grasp and ran to those creatures as if they were old friends. The young master even knew their names.” Chazel stood straight and would take his punishment like the superior breed of goblin he was, without blaming others. He had known Jareth since he was a young prince and believed he had become a good and fair king. “If it is any help, both Her Dowager Highness and Ellamora are with them, now.”

“Thank you, Chazel,” the Goblin King dismissed the butler with a nod of his head. “That will be all. It would appear I need to have a talk with the boy about the correct way to receive visitors.” 

Sarah watched with haunted eyes as the goblin left the glade. Part of her wanted to run quickly to Toby, but part of her was afraid. “Jareth, do you think he knows?” All traces of formality were wiped away in her worry.

“I doubt it and if he does, there is nothing you can do about it. What is said is said and what is done is done. There is no going back to change that.” He offered her his arm and they walked slowly out of the lovely glade. When they crested the hill and looked down at Corramar Estate spread out below them, the sound of a child’s laughter greeted them.

“He’s laughing,” Sarah pressed her face against Jareth’s arm to help control happy tears that threatened to fall. “I haven’t heard him really laugh since the fire. I think he’s going to be all right.” They watched for a moment while the small human boy played and chased Ludo, much to the joy of Hoggle and Sir Didymus. 

“Wait,” Jareth turned her toward him and looked into her eyes. “Give yourself the same chance you’ve given Toby. Let the Underground work for you. Stop fighting it, let its magic in.”

“I…”

“Just let me finish,” he smiled at how stubborn she could be, always wanting to get in the last word. “You believed in this place, once long ago. I’m sorry that you saw too many of the darker areas before. You need to discover the wonderful ones this time. Like that glade back there. It isn’t enchanted unless you count its beauty, but it soothed you anyway. Wander all you want, explore. I won’t forbid you from entering the Labyrinth as long as you promise to stay away from the evil places. You’re wise enough in the ways of magic to be able to recognize them by the feel in the air.”

“Forbid me…” she whispered, and then remembered she was talking to a King when he raised his right eyebrow and tilted his head in an expression she recognized from before.

“Let yourself heal, Sarah. Open your heart to all this land has to offer; you’ll be surprised at what you discover.”

As they continued down the hill, Sarah gripped Jareth’s arm, his words echoing in her ears. Unfortunately, her heart was already open, it had been for years, and it was filled by his presence; but he was King of the Goblin Territories and she was about to become one of his mother’s stable hands.

The old adages of the Labyrinth were still true. What’s said is said and what’s done is done. Sarah found it terribly unfair that there was not some trite saying that would tell her how to undo the hurt and loneliness she would feel for all of her life because of what was already said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has read my _Tears of a Goblin King they will notice that I've used some of the same names for secondary characters. It wasn't laziness, but I fondness for the names._


	5. Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is mainly Sarah and Jareth. I felt they deserved a chapter to themselves after all they’ve been through in the preceding ones.

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Sarah was in a daze as she descended the hill with Jareth. Unconsciously, she gripped his arm to keep from trembling. The emotional rollercoaster that had left her drained and sobbing so often in the last three days was on another downward spiral. Below them, on the front lawn of Corramar Estate, her brother romped with Sir Didymus, Hoggle and Ludo. They played together as if they were old friends and it worried Sarah. She didn’t want Toby to have any contact with anyone who knew what she had done to him six years earlier.

“Occasionally, things are what they seem,” Jareth whispered to her as he drew himself up to his full height. His entire demeanor then changed to one of hauteur and intimidation. They would face this together. Sarah would not be hurt, when it was within his power to protect her.

She nodded and carefully matched her steps to his deliberately dignified gait. Unable to concentrate on anything but the easy camaraderie between the four rowdy playmates, she missed the gentle smile of approval that crossed Livia, the Dowager Queen’s face as she watched the couple coming towards her.

“He wouldn’t appear so happy if he knew that I’d wished him away when he was a baby,” Sarah murmured, unsure if she was trying to convince herself or seeking the Goblin King’s opinion on the subject.

“Sarah, he loves you.” Jareth stopped and turned to face her.

“I know, but…”

“Hush,” he commanded. “When you love someone, you can forgive them anything.”

“Can you?” She looked up into his eyes and remembered a room crashing around them as she leapt from a high ledge and a lie she’d told that had made him vanish. ‘But surely he isn’t talking about himself?’ As the thought surfaced, her heart accelerated with hope. But just as quickly, she shook her head and brought herself back to the present and reality. ‘After all, he is a Fae King and I’m a…a…a…’ Her mind couldn’t complete the sentence. Three days ago she’d known exactly who she was, but now, in this strange magical place where nothing was as it seemed, she wasn’t sure of anything.

“Yes,” he sighed at the haunted look that flashed across her face. More was going on with her than he understood. For eons Fae, unlike Elves, had denied the feelings of their hearts. The old teachings had been all but set aside and the few who followed them were thought to be weak. Most had chosen to concentrate on all the many pleasures of the flesh, with the instant gratification and sating of desire that they brought. Jareth found it humbling to discover he had been among the many and was now at a decided disadvantage. In an attempt to lighten the mood he responded the only way he could. “Besides, Toby is a good-natured lad, not the sort to bear a grudge.”

“You’re right.” She gently nibbled on her lower lip as she felt his gloved-hand cover hers where it was resting on his arm. She knew if she were really brave, she’d ask him if he was as good-natured. Instead, she let his kind words and his touch help wipe away her anxiety about Toby as they continued down the hill. 

“Your Majesty,” Didymus bowed in deference to his king, and then turned quickly to the woman who clung to the Fae’s arm. “My lady Sarah, it is good to see you again.” He bowed to her in turn.

“Your Highness,” Hoggle acknowledged the Goblin King and then turned to the girl who had become a woman in the years since he’d seen her last. “We was worried about you, ah…ah, lady Sarah,” he quickly added the title that Didymus had always used because now it seemed the correct thing to do. “Yous all grown up.”

“Yes, I am,” she let go of Jareth’s arm and hugged the little man. “I’m so glad to see you. How did you know where to find me?”

“His Majesty was good enough, despite his many engagements, to inform us of your whereabouts,” Sir Didymus nodded and tried not to laugh as Hoggle struggled to get out of Sarah’s enthusiastic embrace. “We were all very relieved to know that you were safe, my lady.”

“Umm, lady Sarah, I don’t thinks this is such a good idea,” the dwarf whispered and pulled free as he eyed the odd expression on Jareth’s face. He could almost smell the Bog of Eternal Stench in his future.

“Sawah…” Ludo came lumbering over with a laughing Toby perched precariously on his back. “Sawah friend, Toby friend,” he beamed joyously. Tipping his head to the side and looking in his odd cross-eyed manner at Jareth he took a deep breath before pronouncing, “King friend, too.” With no more to say, he turned and took Toby for another ride around the extensive lawn.

“How do you know Toby?” Sarah was glad for the hidden touch of Jareth’s hand on the small of her back. It gave her balance as her emotions swung in all directions at once. “And how does he know about you?”

“You never invited us back after that first time.” Sir Didymus stepped forward to tell the story. “Even when we called very loudly, you wouldn’t look at us in the mirror. We thought you’d stopped believing, though we still believed in you.” He sighed at the memory. “So we were caught on our side and you on yours. We tried calling to you again and again, but nothing worked.” They had known that Jareth had watched in his owl form as well, but unless the King wanted Sarah to know about that, they would say nothing. “Then one day, you weren’t there any longer, but master Toby was. We didn’t mean for it to happen. We don’t know how he was able to hear or see us.”

“Sarah, we’s didn’t mean to do it,” Hoggle continued with the story. “But the poor lad was crying. He missed you as much as we did. We was talking, trying to figure out how to help him when he looked up at your mirror and right through it. He was able to see us standing on our side just as if we was in the room with him.”

“I think, my lady, that you had passed on your beliefs in us and the Labyrinth to the young master. You’d read him the story until he knew it by heart.” The knight shrugged, unable to think of any other explanation for what had happened. “You no longer needed us, but he did.”

“But I did need you, all of you,” Sarah blinked away tears. She had needed them desperately. Not acknowledging their presence and spending time with them had been her penance for killing their king. To be around them had made her feel closer to Jareth’s memory and she refused to allow herself the luxury. “Thank you for watching over Toby while I was away at school.” Suddenly she knew without being told that her friends were the primary reason her brother liked to sleep in her room. If it hadn’t been for them, Toby would have been down the hall and out of her reach the night of the fire.

“We didn’t say nothing to him about, well you know…” Hoggle shrugged and nodded towards Jareth and then the boy. 

Sir Didymus gave her a reassuring pat. “Master Toby knows nothing of his previous visit; you may be reassured on that account.” No one in the Underground ever speeks of the wished-away children, but this was an unusual case and the Knight was doubtful where it stood under the law. But the three friends knew that it would hurt Sarah if they told her brother the truth, so they had made a pact to say nothing on the night they met the boy.

“Thank you,” Sarah closed her eyes and leaned against Jareth’s arm, barely conscious of his hand, which covered hers or that she’d reached for him to draw support from his touch. 

“You have done exceedingly well in keeping watch over the lady Sarah and master Toby,” the King cleared his throat. “You have my thanks, and my permission to continue your visits once they return to Ellamora Kilhaggen’s cottage.” He gently disentangled his hand from Sarah’s, to take formal leave of his mother who had been watching the proceedings from a discreet distance. 

One last look into the human’s sad eyes and he knew he couldn’t leave her standing alone among her friends. “I must excuse myself, my lady,” he bowed slightly and his lips twitched with humor at the formality of their parting. “I am needed elsewhere, but I shall look forward to seeing you again soon.” Giving in to an impulse, he gently gripped her right hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. Before she could draw a breath he vanished leaving a hushed chuckle behind him.

“Why did he…? Oh, my,” she was dizzy and had trouble catching her breath. Her face was flushed and she blinked at her hand, wondering why it appeared normal when she could still feel the brush of his lips against her skin. Then his words sank in and she became livid. “How dare he…permission…he gives his permission!” 

“My lady, he is the king and can decree anything he chooses.” Didymus tried to explain.

“But…but…you’re my friends.”

“That is true, my lady, but you are no longer the child you were.” The faithful old knight doubted Sarah understood the importance of Jareth’s attentions toward her, and it was not his place to enlighten her. “If you doubt him, remember that if His Highness had not wanted us to visit you, we would have had no knowledge of the portal left open through your mirror, or been able to step though it.”

Once again it was brought home to Sarah how truly powerful Jareth was. He was a Fae King, and she a human woman. It made her heart ache to think of the huge gulf that lay between them.   
****

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Sarah and Toby settled in at Ellamora’s. The double bed in the loft where they slept was exchanged for two single ones and a second dresser added. In the evening, while Toby did his homework or played, the two women sat and sewed. Sarah’s efforts were clumsy, but she was determined. Toby needed clothes for school and she needed some for work. With the help of the Elf who had opened her home to them, they were being made.

It had been a relief to Sarah when she discovered that many of the villagers used barter to provide for goods and services. She’d hated the thought of having to depend on the Goblin King’s charity to survive until she collected her first salary.

At the small general store, she exchanged drawings for the materials necessary for their nightly sewing. The boot maker was happy to provide a pair of sturdy boots for Toby and another pair for her in exchange for a charcoal rendering of his wife and child. 

After working with Magic for three days, Sarah was as at home with the horse as if she’d worked in a stable all her life. She needed guidance on some tasks, but the small brown animal was becoming a friend. The hours spent with her were soothing and kept Sarah too busy to think about all that had been lost the night of the fire. She felt secure in the knowledge that while she was earning their keep, Toby was well cared for and thanks to the crystal Jareth had given her, never out of sight. She didn’t admit, even to herself that working at Corramar allowed her to see the Goblin King on an almost daily basis. He didn’t come to see her, but she could see him, even if it was only from a distance.

“Stop that, Moonbeam,” Sarah reached behind her and pulled her hat out of the mouth of the unicorn in the next stall. He’d gently taken it from her head and was holding it almost out of her reach. It had become a game. While she brushed Magic, Moonbeam would stand and watch. When he became impatient to get outside, he began grabbing at her hat. “Don’t you want your lady’s coat to be nice and shiny before you two go out to run in the pasture?” When he finally gave her back the hat, she returned to her work knowing that she had better hurry. It seemed to Sarah that the more magic a creature possessed, there was a corresponding diminution of patience.

“I said, ‘stop that’!” Her temper flared as she twisted around to once again retrieve the stolen object, but instead of the playful unicorn she’d expected to find, Jareth was inches away, blocking the entrance to Magic’s stall, calmly twirling her hat around one long, slim, leather-clad finger. He’d caught her completely unawares. Her mouth went dry in that odd way it had been doing when she’d suddenly catch sight of him and she hadn’t had time to mentally prepare herself. “I thought you said I was supposed to wear that to protect my healing skin.” Her words sounded raspy to her ears and she cleared her throat.

“I believe I did, but it’s not necessary when you’re in the stables.” He tossed the hat in the air before setting it at a jaunty angle on her head. “And your burns are almost healed.” His eyes followed the graceful curve of her neck where a large blister had been until he’d used his magic to take away the outward damage from the fire.

“You’re not being much help this morning.” Sarah grumbled. She’d been caught staring at him and much to her surprise, he stared back. All business again, she straightened her hat and gave Magic’s mane one last brush. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

He raised his finely arched brows and leaned indolently against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He didn’t have to say the words, ‘I’m king. I go where I please’. His body language did it for him.

“Riiiggghhhttt,” She nodded and then a new thought made her voice catch in her throat. “Is it time? Is she…?” Sarah quickly turned to run her hand over the mare’s back and side looking for any clue that things had changed in the last few minutes. Since she’d started work, she’d been vacillating between feeling like the doting mother of a virgin bride and the most visible madam in the Underground. 

“Almost,” he studied her with concerned eyes. “Jayord has been overseeing Mother’s Monoceros breeding program for centuries. He is keeping careful watch over the mare and predicts it will happen sometime within the next three weeks.” 

“Oh,” she sighed and reached, with a not quite steady hand, to pat Magic once more. “I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

“Sarah,” Jareth gently turned her towards him, but she was unable to meet his eyes. “She’ll be all right. Moonbeam won’t hurt her, you know.”

Suddenly, the air between Fae and human was so charged it almost crackled with feelings Sarah didn’t want to recognize. “It’s just that she’s never….and he can have such a fierce determined nature when there is something he wants.” Her eyes looked a long way up to finally rest on Jareth’s beautiful face. 

“Keep in mind that he isn’t just any stallion, he’s a unicorn, with great magic.” Jareth spoke barely above a whisper. It was so quiet in the stable they could hear the two animals breathing. “Things may get a bit…ah…rambunctious,” he looked off into the distance, seeing a vision he was not about to share with her, yet. “But she will come to no harm. His actions won’t be driven by instinct alone; he loves her.”

Sarah nodded as if in a trance. Jayord had explained to her, the day before, the difference between when mortal horses mated and when one of the animals involved had power, but she needed to hear it from Jareth. “Does he really?” 

“Yes,” he knew he was no longer talking about Magic and Moonbeam and hoped she did too. “Though she isn’t one of his kind, she loves him in return. It is one of the reasons he’s waited so patiently for her.” He wished he could be as sure about Sarah’s affections as his unicorn was of his chosen mate’s. “Once they mate and she conceives his offspring, changes will take place in her body. It will seal their bond, extend her life, and strength her powers of recuperation necessary for birthing a part unicorn foal.” 

“That’s good to know.” Sarah squeaked. She blinked and forced herself to turn away from his magnetic presence. 

“If this were a normal mating, between two unicorns, she would transport herself to the Valley of the Moon at the first hint that her body was beginning to change. The male would follow as soon as he caught her scent. There, in the ancient mating place, he would often have to fight off other, younger, rogue males for the honor.”

“Ellamora told me that unicorns mated for life. Why would it be necessary for Moonbeam to fight for her?”

“Foreplay,” Jareth dropped the word into the silence of the stables. It sent out ripples that lapped at Sarah until she shivered.

“Foreplay?” she cleared her throat and tried to wipe away pictures that filled her mind; pictures of long, slim white hands moving over her body as she arched against them.

“Yes,” he smiled. “Though I’m sure the Dowager Queen could give you a long, involved answer, which included survival of the fittest and its impact on the gene pool.” His voice carried a tone of indolent disregard, but Sarah had no doubt that he had as thorough an understanding of the biology behind the urges that drove his animals, as his mother. 

“But…but…what if he were to lose?”

“He would not.” Jareth pinned her with a look. She needed to start realizing the way things were between them and now was as good a time as any to begin the lesson. “Make no mistake about it. Nothing would stand between him and his Chosen One. She will be his. It was decided long before they met, before she was even born. It is why he has guarded her so carefully all this while.” He stepped back, breaking the tension that his words had caused. He was determined to give Sarah the space she required. Like his unicorn, he knew that the rewards would be worth the wait. “But it is a moot point. Magic is unable to transport anywhere. The plan is for me to take Moonbeam with me at the first sign that she is coming into season. It is necessary to separate them until she is ready to receive him.” 

“He’ll let you do that?” She knew that if Moonbeam chose, he was capable of transporting himself anywhere, including into the stall with Magic.

“Of course,” his tone clearly implied that there was nothing he could not do. “I imagine the time alone will be harder on the horse. She is the one who lacks experience.”

“And he doesn’t?” Sarah’s brows rose along with her voice. She had assumed that there had been no other mare in the unicorn’s life.

“Hardly,” Jareth smiled gently. “Moonbeam is an 18-year-old male unicorn. While that isn’t old for his species, it is past the time when he should have taken a permanent mate. Every spring since he turned two, he has disappeared into the wild country, and come home smelling of musk…and well…let’s just say it was obvious he’d been taking care of his baser needs with an unattached female. He will welcome the heating of his blood that her scent will cause, because finally he will be joined as he was meant to be. I am unsure how he restrained himself last year. He had just chosen her when spring came, but she was far too young to receive him. He stayed by her side, and guarded her jealously, rather than going to seek comfort elsewhere.”

As Jareth spoke, Sarah felt an ache growing deep in her abdomen. Her eyes darted to the pile of fresh hay in the large empty stall across the corridor and she longed to pull him down beside her and feel his body pressed into hers, as it had when he’d pushed her to the ground to protect her from Moonbeam. There was a loud buzzing in her ears that she couldn’t shake. 

She licked her lips and attempted to divert her thoughts from an old fantasy, one she was very glad she hadn’t drawn on the missing page from her Labyrinth book. In it she was wearing the lovely ball gown from long ago, but they were no longer dancing. Instead, they were alone in his bedchamber and he was slowly sliding the bodice off her shoulders. White, ungloved hands reached to cup her breasts and her knees went weak. The old memory almost caused her to groan; instead she said the first words that came to mind. “You’re right, it will be harder for Magic, not knowing, not understanding.” She gripped her hands together tightly and remembered what she’d felt during the six years she’d believed that Jareth had died when the Escher Room had been destroyed. “She’ll miss him terribly and it’ll only get worse when her hormones kick in. She’ll know he is the only one who can help her, but all she’ll see when she looks into his stall is an empty place where he should be.”

“That’s why I’m so glad she chose you to be her friend. You’ll be there to reassure her until he is back.” Jareth took her hand and led Sarah out of the depths of the isolated stable. In a few short sentences she’d revealed too much about what it had been like for her during the last six years. If he didn’t get her moving and surrounded by other people, Magic wasn’t going to be the only one who would lose her virginity in the very near future.

“Your Highness…” Sarah took a deep breath, relieved when she stepped into the sunlight and the busy sounds of the morning’s activity on Corramar Estate. Magic followed at her shoulder and Moonbeam was close behind.

“Sarah, what have I said about that?” He knew he’d used the correct amount of magisterial gravitas when she rolled her eyes at him. For the moment, they’d succeeded in lightening the mood and pulled away from the dangerous path they’d been treading.

“Jareth,” she whispered. Sarah needed to leave their discussion about Moonbeam and Magic behind, it was too sexually charged to be comfortable. She saw the way his eyes had touched her skin, as if it were a caress, and it was almost her undoing. She wanted him and had since before she met him, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the feelings were returned. There could be no future between them. The best she could hope for was a brief interlude. Then, when she no longer enlivened his boredom, he’d move on to the next female who caught his eye. Sarah was determined to be different, even if she was only different because she would not succumb to his considerable charm. “It was a pleasure to have you drop by and check on our progress.” She smiled tightly and held out her hand. “We will send notice when things change.”

“It was my pleasure, lady Sarah.” His eyes twinkled as he took her hand and instead of shaking it as she’d expected, he raised it to his lips to kiss her fingers. “I look forward with anticipation to the lady’s change in…temperament.”  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days turned into weeks, spring ripened in the Underground and both Magic and Sarah remained untouched. At night, gentle winds hinting of the coming summer blew down from the hills across the great bay and everything was in bloom. Sarah enjoyed her work at Corramar and Toby went to school in the village. But where the young boy made friends easily and was soon accepted into the group of Fae, Elves, and Dwarves who populated the area, Sarah was not so lucky. Her drawings were widely sought after, but no one knew what to make of the quiet, introspective woman. She was unlike any human they’d ever met. It was obvious that she was in the King’s good graces, and she loved her brother dearly, so she couldn’t have been a wisher-away. But it was just as obvious that she was hiding something.

Marilee visited her mother’s cottage often and tried to befriend the human woman, but Sarah held herself back. She guarded her privacy, refusing even the company of her old friends from six years ago. She knew it didn’t make sense, but the less contact she had with beings that belonged to the Goblin King, the better she felt. His visit to the stables had unnerved her.   
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jareth sat in the window of the high eastern tower, looking over his domain. A crystal was nestled in the palm of his gloved hand and it took all his self-restraint not to peer into it and watch Sarah as she went about her day.

It was three weeks since he’d discovered she hadn’t died in the fire that had killed her parents. Three weeks of waiting, of hoping, and of self-discipline that was running short. He’d visited her once at Corramar, but she’d acted strangely. He had been able to feel the desire coursing through her veins, but she’d denied her passions and his. It made no sense. He’d come to the conclusion that she needed more time to heal so he’d kept his visits there to a minimum, though he ached to be by her side. He wasn’t a being who was used to deferring pleasures of any kind and his patience was almost worn out. It wasn’t any help that he felt her pain and despair floating on the air. 

With a hasty flick of his wrist, he cupped his hand and slid the crystal to the tips of his fingers as he held it at eye level. “Show me Sarah,” he commanded to its depths. Shadows and fog moved deep within the sphere balanced in front of him.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miles away, Sarah sat in quiet contemplation. Her hair was wet from a recent swim and her hastily donned gown damp since she lacked a towel.

A week earlier, she’d been following a stream, that according to Ellamora, started deep in the Labyrinth as a large river. It flowed across the entire Goblin Kingdom and finally emptied into the great Bay beyond Corramar. The young woman was smart enough to stay out of the Maze, but she wanted to see where the stream led. As she walked she’s discovered a waterfall. The narrowing of rocks above caused smooth water to become turbulent before it fell 15 feet to form a natural pool in the river below. Over the centuries, the banks had washed away, creating a wide, sandy-bottomed pond at the base of the falls. Sarah climbed above the water fall and could see in the distance where water rushed below the tall border of hedge maze. 

She was glad the rocks that created the fall blocked any view of the Labyrinth from the pond. It had become one of her favorite spots to be when she wasn’t working with Magic, spending time with Toby, or helping Ellamora about the cottage.

She was thankful her brother had settled easily into their new life, even if she hadn’t. He’d made friends at school. Beside Maia who visited often with Marilee, two boys in particular were his usual companions, Quentin Annalow, the son of Mercer and Gwyneth Annalow, a couple who made fine and practical leather goods. Though his parents were Fae, Quent appeared as human as any of Toby’s friends from the Aboveground, with dark hair and eyes and a smattering of freckles across his nose. Since Jareth had explained the true fate of wished-away children, she was sure that Quentin was one of them. It was a matter that she refused to dwell on.

Then there was Mortimer Dennimar, the only child of Lord and Lady Dennimar, from the estate to the south of Corramar. He had the slim, fine-boned, fair-haired grace, which Sarah had come to equate with Fae. The children were an odd friendly mix in the Underground. She had learned from Marilee that magic didn’t appear until puberty, it made Toby fit in all the better, though she was a bit leery of the fact that her brother would eventually have powers.

Galen and Marilee’s daughter was younger than the boys, but they often included her in their games and outing. Despite the petite build she’d inherited from her Elf grandmother, she had a Tom-Boy side that allowed her to keep up with the boys most of the time. 

The children ran at will between the cottage, Mortimer’s estate and the village. Sarah tried not to worry because they were always accompanied by at least one of her friends from her pervious visit to the Underground. The group had strict orders to stay out of Goblin City, unless they were at Lord Galen’s Manor home, and the Labyrinth. The one and only time they’d disobeyed and tried to enter the Maze, a large white barn owl with mismatched eyes had flown screeching over their heads. It had been all the warning they’d needed. 

Sarah smiled as she picked a small white flower and sniffed its calming scent. It was apparent Jareth had been keeping a discreet eye on her brother. “I wasn’t going to think about him,” she told the flower. But think about him she did. It was hard not to when she felt the magic of his lands all about her. 

She was no longer a young girl trying to beat his Labyrinth and he was no longer the menacing king who would take her brother. It would appear there was much more to the Goblin King than she’d known. Six years ago, he’d sparked the crush of a 15-year-old girl. Today he was everything a woman of 21 could desire.

He hadn’t come to see her since that day at the stables, but she’d seen him numerous times from a distance. Often he galloped at great speed over the countryside, sometimes alone, but usually with one group or another, always on some hurried errand. Three times he’d arrived at Corramar just as she’d been leaving, but he’d never singled her out. It was hard living with him always there, but never there for her. Everywhere she went people talked about him. It was obvious he was a good king. His people adored him and she would have to learn not to. In her attempts to do so she was becoming more and more of a recluse.

“Jareth,” she sighed. She knew she loved him, and for the rest of her life he would be forever out of her reach.

“You called, my lady?” He had been watching her as she sat and gently ran her fingers over the petals of the ancient Flower of the King, so deep in thought she hadn’t heard his approach.

“Your Highness,” she gasped and jumped to her feet. It took her a moment, but she changed her expression from sad longing to carefully constructed smile. “I forgot that around here beings can appear out of nowhere.”

“My lady, that would be impossible, even for me. Everyone must come from somewhere. I’ll be sure to make my presence known the next time I find you daydreaming in an enchanted glade.” he teased, and picked up the bud she’d dropped. As he turned serious, he placed it gently behind her left ear, ‘a fitting place for a future Queen to wear the King’s flower’. “I wasn’t trying to catch you unawares.”

“I know…I…” her mind went blank. He stood less than three feet away and they were truly alone for the first time in years. He was all she’d ever wanted. He was alive and real and he was finally close enough to touch, but she didn’t dare. Instead she had to be content to absorb his presence. “I…ah… wanted to thank you in person for retrieving my Labyrinth book.” It was a safe neutral topic and the only thing she could think to say. “It means a lot to me…I mean…well…I’ve had it for so long…”

“Marilee gave me your note,” Jareth acknowledged and took a step closer to Sarah. He kept it in a drawer beside his bed, along with the page of pictures he’d found inside her book. He’d needed those as a reminder of all he could lose if he wasn’t patient.

“I didn’t know if it was correct etiquette. I’m still unsure of how one conducts oneself in polite society…. Maybe I shouldn’t have presumed on your time…. you’re the Goblin King and I’m…well, I’m me…” She knew she was rambling, but couldn’t stop. Marilee had assured her it was a proper way to thank him, but it had felt strange. When days and weeks had gone by and Jareth hadn’t responded it had made her feel foolish and young. “If only one thing could have been saved from the fire that is what I would’ve chosen.”

“Yes, you are you.” He looked her over carefully. The young girl had grown into a beautiful woman, and though she was still numb with grief from all that she’d lost she was as steadfast and strong as ever. She’d proved it the night her house had exploded around her. “And being you, you saved what was most important to you: your brother. The book was only a token compared to him. It was the least I could do to honor your bravery.”

Her eyes darted everywhere but his face. “You make it sound as if I’ve done something remarkable, but I didn’t. I never gave the matter any thought. I grabbed Toby and looked for a way to get us out.” She shivered, her only real memories of that night were of desperate fear that this time she’d be unable to save her brother.

“Sarah, I’m worried about you.” He didn’t miss the horror that filled her face when she talked of that night and rested his hand on her neck to reassure himself that she was no longer burned and in pain, as she’d been when he’d first seen her again. 

She looked at him in surprise and almost groaned. He appeared as delicious as ever, dressed in black breeches and high boots. A soft dark shirt was all but hidden by a black leather jacket that accented his slim waist and broad shoulders. “You needn’t bother…I…ah…I’m fine.” Her mouth went dry as her belly began to quiver from his touch. She remembered being fifteen and feeling like that around him. At the time she’d been too young to recognize desire when she’d felt it. 

“Even if I couldn’t see the evidence for myself, my sources tell me otherwise.” In an attempt to keep his hands busy and not give into the urge to stroke her skin until she quivered, he pulled back to tug securely on the cuff of his right glove, straightening a nonexistent wrinkle in the soft leather. “It appears that my good intentions of leaving you alone to find your footing have gone array.”

“Your sources? Are you having me watched?” Or was he the one who watched her through one of his crystals? It gave her pause when she realized that ten minutes earlier she’d been swimming nude and had done so everyday for a week. She would have to be more careful.

“You have friends, Sarah, who are worried about you.” He looked her over carefully from the top of her wet head to the hem of her damp, ankle-length dress. “I’d like to think I’m one of them.”

“Your Highness, that isn’t necessary.” She turned quickly and moved away from him. She knew from past experience how much those mismatched eyes could see in one glance. “I know you’re very busy. I’ll be fine.”

“What exactly do you think ‘that’ is? And why isn’t it ‘necessary’?” He spoke from over her left shoulder so she knew he was very close. 

“Your being here, keeping an eye on me.” She forced herself to face him and had to look up a long way. He was slim with fine bones, yet it always surprised her that he was so much taller than she was. “I’m one of your subjects, or will be once Lord Galen gets the paperwork to me, you’re just being kind. That is what isn’t necessary.”

“Do you really know me so little?” Jareth’s brow contracted and he shook his head. “I am many things, but kind is not one of them.”

“That night when you healed my burns, you said that the Goblin King I knew all those years ago was created out of my expectations. Since Toby and I have been here this time, you’ve eased the way. You’ve been generous.” She whispered and licked her lips as his words from long ago rang in her ears. “It is because of you that we have a place to stay and that I have a job. Is it all just an illusion again?” She hated to think it. She wanted him to be real.

“Hardly, my dear,” he smiled and gently traced the outline of the flower tucked behind her ear. “If thirteen hours of playing a part was exhausting, surely doing so for weeks would kill even me. I am here because I want to be. Now tell me, what is the cause of the dark circles under your eyes?” The changes went deeper than that, she’d lost weight and the only times he’d seen any of the spirit of the girl who had challenged his Labyrinth were when she was working with the little horse, Magic.

“I’m not sleeping very well.” Sarah shrugged and tried to dismiss it. Her nights were haunted by a strange mixture of fire and falling rocks. It didn’t matter whether the dreams were of exploding homes or breaking magic rooms, they always ended the same, with a dead Goblin King at her feet. Sometimes smoke billowed around them and Toby was clutched tightly in her arms, but more often than not, she was alone. 

“Nightmares of the fire?” he asked.

“Some,” she hedged. “My mind freezes and I have to remind myself where I am when I unexpectedly catch the scent of wood smoke.” She shrugged and tried to smile. “It’s a good thing winter is months away. It’ll give me time to…to…adjust.”

“I could erase that night from your conscious mind with a simple spell, but it would cloud your memories of your parents. And even the most powerful magic can be overcome when dreaming, so there are no guarantees that your nightmares wouldn’t return.” He liked to believe that by the time the weather turned cold, Sarah would be sleeping beside him and he would be there to kiss away her fears.

“No, no. I need to work it out myself. I don’t want to forget what happened. I need to learn to accept it.” Tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t talk to him about her fears that Toby would find out that she’d wished him away six years earlier. If she did, she’d have to face that she loved a being who took children from their homes for his own gain and then took pleasure in manipulating and tormenting their family members. Right now, that was more than she could deal with.

“There’s more. What is it? I can read it in your eyes.” He watched her carefully. A breeze blew through the trees and across the water. Sarah shivered in her damp gown and wet hair. 

“Yes,” she whispered. “But it’s too foolish to bother about.” Her lip trembled and she covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s an old nightmare, one I’ve been having for years.”

“Tell me,” he commanded and slipped out of his coat. As much as Jareth appreciated what the cooling air did to the silhouette of her gown he didn’t want her to catch a chill. He wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, and ran his hands through her hair while muttering a drying spell.

“Thank you,” she gasped, as she huddled deeper into the soft supple leather that was still warm from his body. “How did you know?”

“I have my ways.” His eyes twinkled and roamed leisurely over her body. “After all, I am a Goblin King.”

“With astute powers and excellent vision.” Sarah felt her cheeks turn pink when she realized what he had seen. 

“Exactly,” Jareth chuckled. “Since you’re listing my qualities, you should add…. tenacious. You were going to tell me about that ‘silly’ nightmare of yours.” He stubbornly reminded her.

“There isn’t anything you can do….” Her pride made her want to argue further, but she’d seen his determined expression before. The last time he’d looked at her like that she’d ended up in a thirteen-hour race though his Labyrinth. “All right, you win…”

“I usually do.”

“Not always.” She glared. “No matter how tenacious,” she muttered under her breath.

“Sarah,” he gritted his teeth, tempted to add ‘don’t defy me’, but was too pleased with her sudden show of spirit to push her too hard.

“If you must know…I…I…keep dreaming about what happened as the Escher Room cracked and fell around us, but this time instead of you vanishing, I see you broken beneath tons of rock. It has haunted me for six years.” Anger at his imperious attitude had made the words come flying out. She glared at him, to hide her embarrassment over what she’d let slip.

“Sarah, I’m sorry. I’ve neglected you for far too long.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, realizing he wasn’t talking about weeks, this time, but years. He should have tried harder to get to her. It had always been possible. He hadn’t known it because he took the spell at face value when there had been clues everywhere. He’d let his pride get in the way and it had almost cost Sarah and Toby their lives. “After what you said the last time we talked, I knew the years have been difficult for you, but I had no idea how hard.”

“My God, I thought I’d killed you!” She raged against him in pain as her temper snapped and broke through the lassitude that had been so much a part of the last three weeks. “You were a living, breathing image of all my dreams and I thought I’d killed you.” She looked up at him with her body pressed against his and her fists buried in his shirt.

“Sarah,” he whispered. Her lips were close and he wanted to feel them against his so badly he almost gave in, but he could feel his body beginning to react to her gentle curves molded against his more muscular one. He knew if he started, he was not going to let her go easily.

“Jareth,” his name was a sigh on the breeze as her anger vanished and changed to surprise when she became aware of the growing bulge pressing against her stomach.

“As you can tell, you weren’t the only one who had expectations all those years ago. Unfortunately, you were far too young.” He tipped her chin so their eyes met and pressed his hips against her so she could have no doubt what he was talking about. “Even then, I could see the woman you would become.”

“Ohhh,” she moaned and trembled in his arms. All her good intentions to remain aloof flew out the window the second he touched her. She wanted him and knew he could see it on her face and feel it in her body. Did he also know that she loved him? Did he know that if she did have an affair with him, she would crack into a million pieces when he put her aside for another, more suitable female?

“I’m glad we finally have that out in the open.” His heart sang with joy that she responded to him so easily. She loved him, he was certain of it; now all he had to do was convince her of it. “As lovely as this little spot is, and as much as I desire it, this is neither the time nor the place to satisfy our passions.” His voice was husky with need as he stepped away from her. 

“You assume that I---” Sarah bristled. Though she knew he was right, it hurt her ego that he had been the one to pull away first. 

“Sarah, do not defy me,” his tone hissed as he ran his thumb over the curve of her bottom lip.

“You sounded just like you did six years ago!” It startled and worried her. What had happened to the kind, considerate being of moments ago?

“A Goblin King is after all a Goblin King. I could have hardly lived up to, or in that case, down to, your expectations if I hadn’t had some of those characteristics.” He shook his head to clear it as he felt his blood begin to cool.

“How am I to know who you really are?” 

“That, my dear, is one of the reasons we are not now locked in an embrace on the ground of this lovely little glade.” He didn’t tell her that this had been one of his favorite seduction spots as a young Fae, or that he’d pleasured females in almost every bower of the countryside and many rooms of his castle. Only one, his bedchamber was free of other liaisons. He had purposely saved it for her, his chosen one. When he took Sarah for the first time it would be in his own bed, the place where kings and queens were conceived! 

“You’re giving me time to get to know you?” It didn’t fit with her preconceive notion of him and it pleased her beyond end.

“That…and I think you need to heal. But don’t think the last three weeks are the way things are going to be in the future. If you are to get to know me, we must spend more time together.” It would also serve to put all others on notice that Sarah Williams belonged to him, but he needed to do it discretely so as not to damage her reputation until he could convince her to allow him to court her properly.

“I’d like that,” she smiled, her eyes warm and her body relaxed for the first time in a long time.

“Good,” he nodded. “I have an idea that might help with your nightmares.” He held out his hand to her. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” she looked into his lovely face and realized that she did. 

“We’re making progress. The last time I asked you that question you weren’t completely sure. Then take my hand. There is something you must see.” With a grin he pulled a crystal out of the air with his free hand and tossed it high above them. 

Sarah gasped as the world shifted and spun. Her sense of adventure piqued.

“I won’t let you fall,” Jareth’s voice whispered in her ear as everything turned gray and her head swam. Suddenly there was stone under her feet where moments ago there had been grass. Her vision cleared as she realized they were no longer in the glade, but in a high-ceilinged corridor. 

“What happened?” She blinked as her stomach settled.

“That mode of transportation saves a great deal of time.” He grinned impishly. Knowing very well she had often seen him on horse-back over the last few weeks. He had no desire to test the Human saying “out of sight out of mind.’”

“I remember, now.” It was the strange sensation from when she’d been transported home at the end of her thirteen hours. Now, instead of home, she was…she was… “This place looks familiar.” She ran her hand over the immaculate stone wall beside her. 

“It should, you’ve been here before, though your imagination made many changes.” He led her down the hall until they came to a curving stairwell. “My throne room is below. But our destination is up these stairs.”

“This is your castle?” Sarah examined every nook and cranny of the large hallway. “It’s different, cleaner, brighter and there are no odd barnyard smells wafting from below. That tapestry certainly wasn’t there.” She pointed to a lovely woven map of the Labyrinth. “I would have noticed that no matter how close I was to running out of time.”

 

“The castle you saw was mostly created from your imagination.” He looked down his straight nose at her. “I find your ideas of an Underground bachelor’s abode distressing to say the least. Do unattached males in your world allow animals such freedoms in their homes.”

“Of course not.” She covered her mouth as laughter bubbling up. “You have to blame the book. It spoke of Goblins living that way. My fifteen-year-old mind must have transferred it to you as well.”

“I, Sarah, am not a Goblin.” 

“What’s done is done.” She quoted him and shrugged her shoulders. “How long did it take you to clean up the mess?”

“When you left, your imagination left with you, though the damage to the city and Didymus’s bridge was very real. That took time and manpower.” He placed his arm around her and guided her toward the steps leading upward. “There is one room that didn’t change.”

“Wait, I don’t think this is a good idea.” She’d tried for so long to convince herself that it had all been a dream, now she was here again. It was different, but Jareth was here and this was the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. She was sure where he was taking her and it made her stomach churn and she dug in her heels. “It’s not a good idea at all.”

“Come, come, hesitation from the girl who considered my Labyrinth ‘a piece of cake’?” he challenged and took her hand to urge her upward. 

Then suddenly they were there, at the top of the steps, but today the huge wood and metal door to the Escher Room was closed. Sarah could feel her eyes tear up as she grabbed all her courage to face the ruins that lay beyond the portal, the ones she’d caused.

“You fixed it.” she cried out as Jareth quietly opened the door. Instead of jagged rock and open air she was greeted with the sight of lovely stairways that ran in all directions leading to ledges that continued on to everywhere and nowhere. 

“No, it is part of the magic of the room.” He ushered her in. “The summer after your adventure it slowly rebuilt itself.” Not that a rebuilt Escher Room was unusual. Many a young Goblin King had given parties in that room, challenging any and all to solve the puzzle it presented. When the labyrinth in the room was concluded, the magic empowered it to split and reform into a new puzzle. It had broken when Sarah jumped from the balcony to rescue Toby, then again when she denied Jareth; but what was unusual, was that when it finally reformed, it did so in the exact same pattern it had been in before. The King had believed the Escher magic had nullified the game, because Sarah was no longer under his power, therefore an ineligible player. It was one of the many clues he’d misread that could have cost him dearly.

“It is a beautiful room.” Sarah looked around and was struck with the same sense of vertigo that had made her head spin six years earlier. “When I walked in here the first time, I thought it was another of your puzzles to solve, but when I realized Toby was here, too, it wasn’t fun anymore.” She couldn’t tell him how frightened she’d been in those last few minutes that she’d fought for her brother.

“It was a puzzle, the final one, and yours was a unique solution.” Never before had a being without power or previous knowledge of the physics of the room dared a leap of faith off one of the high ledges. It had astounded him and broken his heart as she went over the edge. “Come,” he urged and tugged on her hand, but couldn’t convince her to step beyond the door.

“Please, no further,” Sarah shook her head and pressed her back against the stone wall unwilling to retrace her steps of years ago.

“You needn’t worry. The room is as enchanted, as it was before its destruction.” 

“I thought you were the one with the power.” She remembered her last visit to this room and the way Jareth had been able to walk upside-down and even through her.

“That is true, but many places in the Underground are as well. Here, one can move safely in any direction. Do you remember your brother crawling along a stairway that ran upside down? It was the room’s magic which kept him from falling. It would have been no different for you, if you’d chosen to try.”

“You mean he was safe all along? That I was safe and could have followed him instead of having to take the long way around? It was all just one of your illusions?” She shook in fury remembering how frightened she’d been the entire time she’d been in here before.

“Not mine. This room was created by the magic of the Labyrinth eons ago and isn’t under my control.” Jareth stood very straight with his hands held lightly behind his back. “Gravity follows its own rules here, unless the room is broken. Then the power that supports it is needed for its own use. The only time you were in danger was when you jumped off the side. You solved the puzzle, and it needed to break apart to reform again.”

“Then why…” Sarah caught her breath at the implication. “It was you. You kept me from falling.” She’d floated gently to the ground just as she had after she’d smashed through the sides of the Crystal Ballroom. “It was you both times. You’re the reason I didn’t get hurt.”

“Exactly. If you’d had power of your own, it would have been unnecessary for me to intervene.” He nodded and stepped closer to her. “Just as it was my magic that protected you when you were in the forest with the Fireys, on the bridge over the Bog of Eternal Stench, and when you fell into the oubliette. Do you really think the Helping Hands will catch just any runner who comes their way?”

“They caught me when I fell through my mirror during the fire.” Sarah couldn’t stop arguing with him. She’d thought she’d won fairly six years ago now it seemed he had helped her at every turn.

“Of course they did.” He moved closer, until their bodies were almost touching. “It was the one way you could get into the Underground on your own. I wouldn’t have left the door open if the fall would have killed you.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” She gripped the wall behind her, unsure of where this was leading.

Jareth rested his arm on the wall above her head and leaned his body lightly against Sarah’s. “You need to understand what really happened here six years ago.” Desire flared in his gut. He’d wanted this woman for half a lifetime and now she was close enough that he could smell her delicious scent. Fae weren’t known for their patience or for deferring their pleasures. The Goblin King had shown great restraint where Sarah was concerned and standing there in the room where she’d denied him once, his emotions and pride were ragged.

“Are you expecting a re-enactment?” she gulped, feeling powerless. If it was what he wanted, there would be no escape this time, though she wouldn’t give up without a fight. “You said Toby was safe, that you didn’t want him.”

“You foolish human, this was never about your brother.” His words crackled through the air until Sarah could feel them. He watched her expression change as she understood their meaning. “And as pleasant as a re-enactment of our little encounter, in this room, would be, you aren’t ready for how it would end.” Jareth had spoken in haste but was glad to have finally said the words. 

“You mean…I don’t understand…” Sarah’s voice was husky with desire and she wondered if he could read her thoughts.

“I think you do.” He ran his nose along her cheek and nuzzled her neck.

“That is the second time today you’ve just assumed I am yours for the taking!” She had to fight back no matter how much she enjoyed feeling her body brushing against his. “I don’t appreciate it.”

He chucked softly and pressed into her as he’d longed to do years ago in the tunnels beneath the Labyrinth. “Do not challenge me when you’re in no condition to fight back.” He ran one gloved hand over her pale cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes. 

“It…it…wasn’t a challenge,” she ground out. “It was a statement of fact.” She was proud of the force behind her words, because surrounded by his scent and his touch all she wanted to do was moan in surrender.

“I didn’t bring you here for seduction, today, but rest assured, when the time comes, Sarah, you will appreciate it.” His lips moved against the corner of her mouth as he spoke. For a moment time stopped, and breathing ceased. There was no past and no future, just one moment of total honesty. Then the clock began to tick again and time moved on.

“Please, no,” Sarah begged, but even as she said the words she gripped his shoulder wanting to pull him closer. “You have an unfair advantage.” 

“I always did.” He dug deep, touching the source of his power. It gave him the strength to push back from the wall and give her the space she needed. “You just never realized it before.”

“Oh, God, what am I going to do?” She shook her head trying to clear it, unaware she’d spoken out loud. 

“At the moment, nothing,” he smiled gently at her confusion. “The objective, today, was to show you that the Escher Room is intact and has been for almost six years. Take a good look around and remember it the way it really is. Hopefully the truth will follow you into your dreams and the nightmares will vanish.”

“I…” she cleared her throat and took a deep breath, suddenly sure that the truth he was speaking of was much more complicated than a magic room that had the power to rebuild itself. “I think it might help, thank you.”

“Good,” he nodded and challenged her once again. “Then walk with me. Retrace our steps from the past.” He held out his hand and when she took it, his grip was slightly tighter, more possessive than it had been before. 

They hadn’t gone three steps when they heard footsteps echoing up the stairs and Galen frantically calling for his King. “Your Highness, Jareth. I need your help finding Sarah. There is a problem at Ellamora’s involving Toby.”


	6. And The Pain Sweeps Through

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank the Seven Crystals, I’ve found you both!” The unusual dynamics of the Escher Room caused Galen’s words to rumble like thunder as he entered, though his excitement was dulled by the quiet intimacy that surrounded Jareth and Sarah. “I apologize for interrupting, Your Majesty, lady Sarah.” He bowed formally. It was evident he had interrupted. “I’ve received word from my wife that there is a problem at Ellanora’s cottage and the children, your brother, ma’am, and my daughter, are involved.” He’d been reluctant when Jareth had first suggested that Marilee befriend the human woman and more so when it became obvious that his child, Maia, and the boy, Toby, had become fast friends. This latest episode added to his feelings of misgiving.

“Details?” Jareth’s right eyebrow rose. It was most unusual for his advisor to be so laconic with information. 

“She gave none, Sir. She merely asked that I request your assistance in finding Toby’s sister and returning her at once.”

“Sarah, your crystal,” the King commanded. His mind somewhat eased, because Merilee hadn’t asked that they bring a healer as well.

“Is he all right?” Sarah gripped Jareth’s shoulder and stood as close to him as possible, trying to see what he was seeing in his outstretched hand. 

“It would appear there has been an altercation: fisticuffs,” he harrumphed and rotated the magical sphere counter clockwise causing the scene within to move quickly backward in time.

“But Toby doesn’t fight!” Sarah felt things slipping out of control as the crystal showed two boys scuffling on the ground. Her brother had been adjusting well to the changes in their lives. She was sure that the magic of the Underground played a huge part in easing his grief. This latest episode made her worry. Had his recent demeanor been an illusion, false magic?

“Perhaps, but given enough provocation, anyone will fight.” Jareth turned the crystal further back in time and gave Sarah a smug look. They both remembered her temper and clenched fists from six years ago and knew that there had been a time or two that she’d had a very human urge to take a swing at the King. 

She glared, knowing he was teasing her, but was unable to refrain from responding. “Just because one is angered, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it must be settled with fists.”

“True, but Toby is a young lad and doesn’t have any bridges to knock down or a goblin city to leave in ruins, so he must settle for what he has on hand, in this case the young Lord Mortimer Dennimar.” He grinned and brought her attention back to the scene that was taking place in the crystal. With a heavy heart she observed friendly play become an argument.

“You approve!” Sarah was shocked, though why she should have been she was uncertain. Jareth was very male despite the glitter and glamour. She’d always known he had a streak of cruelty and strength. In some ways he was exactly like a human male, but with far more power. 

“Hardly, a Monarch can’t condone brawls, it’s unseemly, but we shall see,” Jareth muttered as he concentrated on the image in his hand. The boys’ tempers had flared causing their angry words to ring from the crystal and carry into the corners of the Escher Room.

“Why does she always have to come along?” young Mortimer Dennimar whined.

“Mort, we have the most fun when it’s the four of us.” Toby tied to reason with his friend, but his face was red with anger.

“Maybe you do, but that doesn’t mean Quentin and I do.” The Fae lordling complained. “’Sides, I’m tired ‘a always havin’ to drag little Ms. Pointy-ears with us.” 

A small moan was heard in the background and the distraught face of Galen’s daughter, Maia, filled the sphere in Jareth’s hand.

“Young man, that is no way to speak about a lady,” Sir Didymus called out. “You must apologize at once!”

“You take that back!” Toby yelled, not listening to the small knight. Maia was his friend and no one, not even another of his friends, could hurt her. He would see to that.

“Make me!” Mort challenged as both boys lunged at each other.

“Boys, boys, this is most unseemly.” Sir Didymus attempted to separate them but ended up ducking fists instead. 

“As I stated, there may have been provocation.” The King cleared his throat as he handed Sarah’s crystal back to her and conjured one of his own. “The Underground has no place for racial prejudice. It undermines our entire way of life.” 

“Your Highness, your coat,” Galen whispered through gritted teeth. He was trying to keep his mind on how inappropriate it would be for anyone to see Jareth’s soft black leather jacket wrapped around Sarah’s shoulders and not let his anger at the insult to his daughter take control of common sense. 

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m not the least bit chilled.” Jareth gazed steadily at his friend over the top of Sarah’s head. He knew that if there were other than family or close friends present at the cottage when they arrived, the young human wearing an article of his clothing would cause gossip and speculation that had heretofore been avoided. It was time his subjects began to understand how things were. 

“I should have been there when he needed me,” Sarah muttered, not paying attention to the quiet interaction between the two Fae. Toby’s sad face filled the sphere in her hand and it tore at her heart to think that she’d been too busy enjoying Jareth’s company to watch the time. “Would you help me get to him, please, Your Highness,” she almost whispered Jareth’s title. 

“Was there ever any doubt?” He smiled gently at her. “Take my arm and mind the first step. Arriving on a country road can be bumpy at the best of times.”

“I’ll be fine. Can we just get going? Toby needs me.” She chewed on her lower lip as she gripped his arm. 

“I would like to come as well, Sir.” Galen moved to Sarah’s other side and offered her his arm. 

“I would expect nothing less, but both of you must let me handle this.” The King warned fully aware of the political problems that might arise from this incident.

“He’s my brother. It’s my job to see to his safety.”

“Do not interrupt. I see to the safety of all my subjects.”

“You make me feel powerless.” Sarah blinked away tears that were forming as it was brought home to her again just how dependent she was on Jareth’s goodwill. She hated it and longed to be the strong independent woman she had grown into over the last few years, though at this point she’d settle for the headstrong girl she’d been on her last visit. 

“You’re hardly that, though at times it may seem that way.” He grinned, realizing she still didn’t understand the power she had over him. As his eyes shifted to meet his aide’s steady gaze, his features changed into those of the Goblin King at his most authoritative. “I must have your word as well.” 

“Of course, Sir,” Galen sighed knowing it was best to let his King deal with Lord Dennimar, but it went against his grain. It was his family that had been insulted and he should be the one to set it to rights. “Take my arm as well Lady Williams.”

Sarah felt dizzy as the Escher Room disappeared. She was glad for the strength of Jareth pressed against one side and his aide on the other. A huge gust of wind gripped them and carried them along. She clung to their arms as they materialized seconds later. He had been correct: it was disconcerting to suddenly find oneself standing on an uneven dirt road when smooth rock had been beneath her feet moments earlier.

“He’s all right,” she whispered as relief washed over her when she took in the scene from the far side of Ellamora’s gate. 

Toby was sitting on the front steps of the cottage. His elbows rested on his knees as he glared daggers at Mortimer Dennimar who sat two feet away from him on the same step. Both boys were dusty and had grass stains on their clothes. Toby had a swollen lip and Mortimer the beginnings of a black eye. Ellamora was coming out of the cottage with a basin of water. Marilee sat on the porch swing with an unusually subdued Maia in her arms. It was obvious the child had been crying and didn’t want anyone but her mother to know.

Sarah, Jareth and Galen had just opened the front gate when Lord and Lady Dennimar appeared in a huff and flurry ten feet from the seated boys. “What is the meaning of this!” demanded the newly arrived Fae lord.

“I was about to ask the same question,” Jareth’s voice carried with it the cool authority of his title. It had been the height of rudeness to arrive on Ellamora’s private property the way the couple had. The King hoped it was due to worry for their son and not a carefully planned snub of the elderly elf.

“Your Highness,” both Dennimars echoed as they bowed and curtsied accordingly. Though they could trace their linage back to the beings that made the original crossing with Oberon, and were highly thought of among those who lived on and around their estate, they had chosen to not be an active part of the royal court. Many believed it was due to the animosity that had existed between the present Lord Dennimar’s father and Jareth’s.

The king only acknowledged them with the slightest nod of his head and held tightly to Sarah’s arm, preventing her from curtsying to them. His mis-matched eyes danced as they met her questioning glance. Whoever had been teaching her the complicated etiquette of greetings in Underground society had neglected to mention that when a woman was on the king’s arm, she received the same respect he did. By keeping her tightly in place it was another subtle sign that she was exactly where he wanted her to be.

“Lord and Lady Dennimar,” Sarah acknowledged in a strained voice. She didn’t know what Jareth thought he was doing, but the last thing she wanted was to alienate the parents of one of Toby’s best friends. “All four children have been getting along so well.” Her green eyes swept Toby and Mortimer sitting on the steps and then took in Maia in her mother’s arms and finally Quentin Annalow and Sir Didymus, who were trying to make themselves almost non-existent beside the big tree in the middle of the front yard.

“The other children should join Toby and Mortimer.” Though the king’s words were warm and friendly it was understood that it was an order not a suggestion. “That includes you too, Didymus.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” The small fox bowed to his king and the inevitable as he and Quentin sat with the others. Maia had placed herself on Toby’s left so Quent slipped into the slot on the boy’s right, forcing the little knight to sit on the next step down.

“Well!” the King demanded. “You heard Lord Dennimar. What is the meaning of this?” He looked at each child as he spoke slowly. Though he knew what had happened, he wanted to hear what the children had to say for themselves. 

“It was nothing, Sir.” Toby responded. “We was…were playin’ and things kinda got outta hand.”

“’Nothing’, you say, young lad?” Dennimar stood with his hands behind his back glaring between Toby and his son. “Mortimer, which one of you threw the first punch?” Though he was asking his son, his eyes had slid accusingly toward the human boy.

“It was an accident.” Quentin called out. His stomach was doing flip-flops. He didn’t like the dark looks the Fae lord was sending Toby’s way. 

“Yeah, an accident, King Jareth.” Maia joined in. “They were rolling around on the ground and Toby bumped his lip and Mort his eye. That’s all.”

“It’s like she said,” Mortimer’s voice quivered with relief. He knew he’d let his family name down by first insulting a child of mixed race and then engaging in physical combat, but he didn’t understand his father’s sudden anger. “I’m sorry, we will be more careful in the future.”

“We’re all sorry,” each child whispered in turn.

“Maia, honey,” Galen knelt before her. He’d seen the proof in Sarah’s crystal that there was much more to the argument than the children were letting on. It went against his grain to let his daughter be hurt and not take a stand on it. 

“Papa, please, it isn’t what it seems.” The little girl’s lip began to quiver. She loved her father dearly and had never hidden anything from him before, but it made her stomach hurt to think of Toby getting into trouble because he’d been defending her. 

“Lord Galen, Sir,” Toby leaned forward and situated his shoulder between father and daughter. “Maia wasn’t in on it. She shouldn’t be here.” He indicated the others on the step.

“Toby,” the girl whispered and touched the boy’s arm. “It’s okay. Papa isn’t angry at us. He just gets protective, is all.

Galen watched the odd interaction between the two children and it was like looking into the past, his past with Marilee. He remembered the early morning sun had been in his eyes as he and Jareth had ridden into the courtyard at Corramar. Both Fae males had been in their late teens, home from some all-night escapade. As they’d stabled their horses they’d discovered two young boys taunting an even younger Marilee about being half-elf. It had made the anger boil-up in him and he’d jumped to her defense. Later he’d realized that that was the moment he knew Marilee was the other half of him, though he’d had to wait six years before he began to court her.

“Papa?” Maia called. “You don’t got to worry – we’re fine.” The little girl smiled and patted her father’s cheek as she had often seen her mother do.

“I’m not worried, honey, just…ahh.” He was at a loss for words as he realized everything was happening as it should. Fate had taken control and set to right the error that had occurred when the Williams children had returned home six years earlier. It was as Jareth believed; Sarah and most likely Toby had been destined for the Underground from the beginning. 

“Well, I am worried!” Dennimar cut in. “Those two boys were fighting and I want to know what happened!” he blustered. “I’ve heard stories about the Aboveground, so I know that these things are tolerated in your realm, but not here!” He glared at Sarah. It was obvious the young woman had wasted no time in currying favor with the king. The obstinate creature had the nerve to stand before them wearing His Highness’s coat. 

“Sedgwick,” Jareth murmured Lord Dennimar’s given name. “I believe the children have given us their account of what happened.” 

“Your Majesty, I beg your indulgence, but I’d like to learn the facts of this case. My boy has befriended this Aboveworlder and…ah…ah…” the Fae lord’s throat suddenly dried up as he watched his King’s face become rigid and remote.

“Be very careful,” Jareth whispered. “Things may not be as you believe them to be.” The King of the Goblins tossed a crystal lightly in his hand. “Are you sure enough of the answers to your questions to press further?” Knowledge was power and it was never more evident who was in possession of that power in the Underground. “It would serve you well to remember that young Master Williams and his sister are honored guests of a citizen of my realm. Their world has been lost to them forever through no fault of their own thus they have all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of a wished-away.” 

“I…ah…Your Highness is most correct. I bow to your superior intelligence and beg your forgiveness.” He dipped his head to his king in sincere apology. “If I was too forward, please understand that I was doing so as a father concerned for his only son.” Dennimar felt sick as fear sliced through him. He had questioned his monarch’s authority. Jareth, King of the Goblins, was not a Fae to be trifled with. He was known to be fair in his rulings, but could act swiftly and ruthlessly when it was needed. 

Sarah stood back in shock. She was seeing a new side to Jareth. This was not the being who had teased and tormented her six years earlier, but one who could have easily crushed a teenage girl. It made her catch her breath as she realized again just how far apart they really were. For a short time that afternoon she’d let it slip her mind. Now she knew she couldn’t ever let that happen again or she’d end up with a broken heart and a sullied reputation. He was well and truly a king who ruled absolutely and expected absolute obedience; not some fantasy Prince Charming she’d made up, and she was only a human woman who worked in his mother’s stables. 

“It is most understandable, Sedgwick.” The king looked down his nose at the shorter lord. “Though, your point is well taken, brawling between school children sets a poor example.”

“Your Highness,” Toby’s voice practically squeaked as he spoke. “We wasn’t brawling, just sorta roughhousing.”

“Appearances can be deceiving, young man.” The king nodded to the damage the boys had inflicted upon each other. “Keep in mind that there are times when it is necessary to fight, but all diplomatic avenues should be exhausted first. If violence does become necessary, those involved must be willing to pay the consequences.”

“Yes, Sir,” Toby nodded, realizing that somehow King Jareth knew exactly what had happened. 

“Good, then we understand each other.” He smiled at the young human. “Now for those consequences, all four children will meet back here at eight o’clock this Week-end’s-day and spend the morning following behind the cleaners in the tunnels. You will be issued brooms to remove any cobwebs that are missed by the machine.” 

“Your Majesty,” Sir Didymus rose and bowed. “I would like the honor of accompanying the children. The…ah…ah…roughhousing happened on my watch, it would be proper that I should be included in the…ahem…consequences.”

“Very well, Didymus. You and Ambrosius are assigned to see to their safety. This time I expect no harm to come to any of them.”

“I will guard them with my very life, Sir.” The small knight bent into a deep bow. 

“Boys and Maia, your friendship is an important one. It is an example of the way life should be. A Fae lord,” he nodded toward Mortimer, “a child of the Labyrinth”, the king eyed Quentin; “a newly-arrived human from the Aboveground”, he smiled at Toby; “and a girl-child who has the blood of two of the oldest races running in her veins. If all beings could form such attachments it could go a long way toward ending distrust and strife throughout the land. Be proud of your friendship and fight for its survival rather than its demise. The relationships you form in childhood are the groundwork for the alliances of your future.” Jareth took a moment of silence to let his words sink-in, to children and adults alike, before he relaxed his expression. “I declare this matter concluded. You are all dismissed.”

Moments later, Lord and Lady Dennimar left, taking Mortimer with them. Sir Didymus accompanied Quentin home with a missive from the king explaining why their son would be spending the morning of Week-end’s-day in the tunnels of the Labyrinth.

“Let me get a look at you, Big Guy.” Sarah knelt in front of her brother, checking out his injuries. She settled for holding his hand in hers instead of the hug she would have loved and he would have hated.

“I’m okay, Sis.” Toby shrugged off his sister’s worry.

“I know. I just….well, I worry about you is all.”

“Adults do that about us kids.” Maia chimed in from beside Toby.

“We sure do.” Sarah smiled and brushed a strand of blonde hair off the little girl’s forehead. “How about you? Are you all right, too?”

“’Course, why wouldn’t I be?” Maia’s chin stuck out, still refusing to divulge any of what had happened earlier.

“Honey,” Marilee called out to her daughter, saving Sarah from having to think of a response that wouldn’t embarrass the child. “You and Toby should go inside. Ellamora is getting supper ready.”

“I’m starved.” Toby stood and waited for Maia. “Your grandma’s the best cook ever.” 

“My mom’s pretty good, too.” The little girl said as she went inside. “Though our cook doesn’t like her in the kitchen.”

“Well you’re lucky, ‘cause my sister can’t boil water without burning it.” The boy’s words echoed behind him making both his sister and Marilee laugh.

“I guess he really is all right.” Sarah sighed and looked around uncertainly.

“They’re both fine, now.” Marilee looked at her friend curiously. “You know what really happened and so does His Majesty, don’t’ you?”

“Please, I can’t talk about it. If you want to know more, you’ll have to ask Lord Galen.” Sarah was determined that there would be no further hurt from this incident. 

“I already know. I was standing in the door when the boys began to argue. Then when I was comforting Maia, she said something that confirmed what I’d heard.” She reached for Sarah’s hand and squeezed it. “It was very brave of Toby to do what he did and he has my everlasting gratitude.” Marilee remembered taunts when she was a child but never thought her daughter would be subjected to them. 

“Maia was his first friend in the Underground.” Sarah shrugged. “And they have the common bond of your mother. I keep expecting him to start calling Ellamora grandmamma the way she does.” The woman walked slowly over to the king and Galen who were in deep conversation.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you handled that the only way possible.” Galen frowned. 

“Sedgwick Dennimar’s family pride is strong, but he is a reasonable being. It was only necessary to make him understand that it was more important for him to think about the actions of his son, than dwell on the mistakes of his grandfather.” 

“If you’d been dealing with his father, things would have turned ugly, no matter what damage it might have caused the child.” Galen was still angry and frustrated at what had happened. As much as he wanted to protect his daughter, he was forced to look beyond the immediate situation and how the Goblin Kingdom was affected. 

“If I’d been dealing with the father, none of this would have happened, because Harlan Dennimar never would have permitted his son to be friends with a human child.” Jareth sighed, not liking where the conversation was going. He had a bad feeling he was going to end up explaining a few truths to Sarah and it was something he was trying to avoid until she was more comfortable living in the Underground.

“Why?” Sarah knew something was going on and she wanted to know what it was. “What piece of history am I missing? I realized there was some reason it was necessary for the Dennimars to save face, but I didn’t understand it.” 

“Your Highness, with your permission, Marilee and I should help Ellamora with the children.” Galen looked from the human woman’s stubborn face to his friend’s resigned one. 

“By all means,” Jareth nodded toward his friend and only waited until they were headed indoors to take Sarah’s arm. “Come, we shall sit under the tree and have the history lesson you believe you want so badly.”

All was quiet in Ellamora’s front yard as the King of the Goblins helped settle the lovely dark-haired woman beside him on the soft grass. The wind was slight, and the setting sun turned the sky deep shades of orange and pink that bled into purple above the far-off hills.

“You must remember that what I am about to tell you took place in a different time. Even though it was only two generations ago, the inhabitants of the Underground were harder, more ruthless and demanding. There was a small group of lords who were the worst offenders. They took what they wanted and did as they pleased unless there was direct intervention from the king of the territory where their lands were located. Your people, of the Aboveground, were also different. They were more violent and in some cases could be as ruthless as any of our lords.”

“This has to do with a wished away child, doesn’t it?” Sarah asked slowly almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Yes,” Jareth nodded and took her hand. “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes, I must. If I am going to live here I need as much knowledge as possible.” She’d known since her first encounter with Ellamora that the citizens of the Underground had a passionate dislike of any human who wished away a child. It made her feel guilty of a far greater crime than the game she’d been playing six years earlier. 

“Very well, but remember you asked.” He held her hand gently and stroked his gloved thumb over her palm in an attempt to give reassurance as he began to speak. “It was five hours into the woman’s allotted thirteen. She had only made it as far as the stone maze inside the wall when she met old Lord Dennimar. He agreed to help her in her quest, if she would bed him.”

“No!” Sarah’s eyes filled with tears as she remembered her own time in the Labyrinth. She’d been desperate to reach her brother, but had she been that desperate? Would she have even understood the consequences? “What happened?”

“A bargain was struck. When she had fulfilled her end of it, he reneged on his. So she killed him.”

“My God!” Sarah shuddered. What Jareth was describing made her adventure through the maze seem like a game in comparison. “But he had powers. How could she have killed him?” She wanted to fight, argue, shout at him that Fae were indestructible. She’d only recently discovered that Jareth hadn’t died when she won Toby back. It was too soon to learn that it might have been a possibility. 

“She stabbed him with a dirk she’d had hidden in the bodice of her gown. Its blade was iron. Even a small wound from that metal will kill most beings of magic. She used it with deadly accuracy, burying it deep in his shoulder. He died before he could retaliate.”

“What happened to the girl?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer, but couldn’t stop herself from asking. 

“Her thirteen hours were deemed up and she was sent back without her daughter.” The King shrugged. “She was lucky, her punishment could have been much worse.”

Sarah was chilled through and through. As she pulled the warmth of the king’s jacket closer around her shoulders, she thanked her lucky stars that the most dangerous things she’d run into had been the fireys. Then her eyes slowly met Jareth’s and she remembered their conversation from a few hours earlier. “It could have been me, couldn’t it?” Looking back on her experience from the viewpoint of an adult she understood all the sexual tensions that had been between them, though she’d been too young to recognize them six years earlier. 

“No, my dear, it could never have been you. You were, and are, nothing like that woman!” his words came from deep within him.

“But…”

“Sarah, believe and understand.” Jareth would brook no arguments. “If you refuse to believe in yourself, than believe in me. I have always been very careful not to make my grandfather’s mistake. No human shall bring iron into the Underground. The only metal you had on was a small silver ring. Also believe that things have changed. New laws were passed. The most important being, no creature of magic is allowed to interfere with a Wisher-away. The contest is between the King of the Goblins and the human. No others may intervene.”

“But what of the King?” Sarah whispered. “He could…you could have…”

“But I didn’t, Sarah, and I never would.” He reached up and tangled his gloved fingers gently in her hair. “The Goblin King must follow the ancient laws set down at the beginning of time or the child isn’t accepted by the Labyrinth. That acceptance is necessary for the magic that sustains us to become part of the new inhabitant. I may use trickery and charm, but seduction is expressly forbidden.”

“So you’ve never…?” 

“No, never. No monarch would.”

“You were certainly charming to me…at times.” Sarah remembered being held in sure, steady arms as she was guided through intricate steps in his ballroom.

“It was hard not to be. You were refreshingly innocent.” He wanted to tell her all of it, that he’d loved her for decades before she’d been born, but she wasn’t ready to hear it yet. 

“When you’re a fifteen-year-old girl it is hard to tell the difference between seduction and charm.” She sighed realizing she had misread much of what had happened back then.

“Charm can be part of seduction, but rest assured I am very adept at making my intentions known.” The air sizzled between them as he leaned closer. His hand slid through her hair until he cupped the nape of her neck.

“I’m beginning to understand that.” Something about old Lord Dennimar’s story nibbled at the back of her mind, but it was hard to concentrate with Jareth’s lips inches away from hers. Then suddenly she was struck by a strong memory. She and Toby were sitting by the sundial in the Labyrinth and they used the tweezers from her Swiss Army knife to remove the splinters from her left arm. “My God, I may have…!”

“What is it, Sarah?” He saw fear and doubt fill her eyes. 

“I brought a knife with me when I fell through my mirror. It was in my backpack, where I always kept it.” She was having trouble catching her breath at the implications. “I don’t know what the blade is made of, but most have some iron in them.”

“Where is it now?” Jareth words rumbled so close she could feel his breath on her face. 

“Ellamora put my old things in the storage shed. I didn’t want them thrown out, but no matter how many times I’ve washed my clothes I couldn’t get rid of the smell of the fire.”

“You’d better show me.” He stood and helped her to her feet. Together they walked around the cottage to a tidy stone outbuilding on the far side of the kitchen garden.

“It’s in there in the back, below the work table.” Sarah pulled open the door in the last of the fading light. The soothing fragrance of drying herbs, which hung in bundles from the thatched roof, filled the room, but couldn’t completely mask a darker tang that haunted her nightmares and made her nose itch. “There’s a pocket on the side of my haversack.” 

“This?” Jareth strode past the woman who was frozen in the doorway and picked up the green canvas bag.

“Yes…” She held her hand lightly against her nose and mouth in hopes the slight scent of flowers that lingered on her skin would keep the smell of smoke away. As much as she wanted to turn and run away from the last tangible proof of the nightmare she’d lived through, she was rooted to the ground.

“How odd,” he exclaimed. “Something is blocking the searcher spell. No wonder Ellamora wasn’t aware of the danger you carried.” The Goblin King drew deeper on his magic and again ran his free hand over the unusual material. “Ahhh, there it is. If I didn’t know what to look for, I would have missed it entirely.” 

“Wait!” Sarah called out as his gloved fingers disappeared into the pocket that contained the knife, “Stop! Are you crazy?” In three strides she’d eaten up the distance between them. It was her first truly spontaneous action in weeks. “There may be iron in the blade and you’re gonna just reach blindly for it?” Her voice shook as she gripped his wrist. “I spent too many years thinking I killed you to have…to have…to have you do something that foolish.” Her jaw tightened in determination as she grasped the soot-darkened bag in her free hand. “Now let me do this. I always closed the knife when I put it away, but if I didn’t, just this once, you would’ve cut yourself.” 

Jareth watched as fierce concern filled her eyes. He was shocked and pleased at her reaction; shocked because he was king and wasn’t used to anyone speaking to him like that; and pleased because he knew she was horrified by the memories of what the bag represented, but her worry for him was greater than her fears. “All right, Sarah, if you insist.” He could already tell that the small amount of iron that was present was incased in some material which was exclusive to the world of men. He had never been in any danger, but it warmed his heart that she would try to protect him.

“I insist.” She glared over her shoulder at him as she pulled the Swiss Army knife from its hiding place and tossed her backpack on the table. She smiled in relief when she saw that even as tired and distraught as she’d been, that first morning in the Labyrinth, she’d stowed it away properly. 

“What an odd looking weapon?” Jareth had never seen the likes before. All it appeared to be was a red plastic handle with metal grooves in the side. “How does it work?”

“It isn’t a weapon. It’s just a handy way to carry a number of small tools.” She proceeded to show him the items the knife contained, all except the actual blade. That she refused to open. 

“Ingenious. It has all those devices as well as a hidden cutting edge.” His brows quirked upward, when she opened the corkscrew followed by the scissors. “But even in its protective covering you can’t keep it.”

“I know.” Sarah nodded but pulled her hand back when he would have taken it from her. “Please don’t handle it. I don’t want you hurt. I’ll bury it somewhere far away.” 

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Don’t you trust me?” 

“It’s not a matter of trust.” Jareth assured her. “But the same law that protects humans, who run the Labyrinth, forbids beings without magic from possessing iron.” Even as he said the words, he formed a crystal and guided it over Sarah’s open palm. The folded knife was surrounded and carried upward in the magic orb. The king spread his hands and flexed his fingers as he muttered words in a language she had never heard. In the blink of an eye the knife and crystal disappeared.

A small sigh escaped Sarah’s lips as another piece of her above world life vanished. “My father gave that to me when I left for college. At the time I thought he was being silly, but I’ve used it often over the years.”

“What in the world for? Your people aren’t susceptible to iron poisoning.” 

“The only thing I’ve ever used the blade for was to cut through packing tape or break down boxes.” She pronounced each word separately as if she were talking to a very young child. “I keep telling you, it-is-not-a-weapon.” 

“Perhaps not where you come from, but here it can cause death with the smallest scratch from any of those tools. As such it shall reside in my armory along side my personal accoutrements of battle.”

“I understand, but it’ll look pretty silly sitting next to the real thing. It is really just a compact set of everyday gadgets. You’d be surprised how often a screwdriver or corkscrew is needed.” Then she grinned at the mental picture of the Goblin King doing his own repairs or opening his own wine. “Well, maybe you wouldn’t, but your servants probably have a use for those items on a regular basis.”

“Humph, I am adept at opening wine bottles.” He looked down his nose at the woman who was standing so close to him.

“I just bet you are.” Her lips twitched as she fought a smile. “Now we know two things you’re skilled at.” The words slipped out before she thought them through. Maybe kidding about his seduction abilities wasn’t in her best interest.

“Oh, my dear, there are many more than two.” He stepped into her personal space and ran his hands up the collar of his jacket that she was still wearing.

“I’m sure…” she tried to backpedal but lost the ability to speak coherently when her eyes met his. 

“Sarah,” he whispered and gently kissed her left temple. He’d almost kissed her twice that day. Fate was giving him another chance. He wasn’t going to pass it up.

A quiet moan escaped her lips as his mouth moved over her forehead. Under her palms she could feel the warmth of his skin radiating through his silk shirt. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered when she’d reached for him. The though was lost as she felt him wrap one arm around her neck and the other held her snugly around the waist. Even as she was telling herself it was a bad idea, her head fell back on his arm and her body leaned against his as she gave into the luxury of his mouth seeking hers.

Jareth pulled her closer and for the moment forgot everything but the fact that she was finally where he wanted her to be. He deepened the kiss while feeling the warmth of her soft curves and strong lean muscles pressed against him at shoulder, waist and hips. His tongue flicked gently against her lips and she whimpered slightly as she granted him entrance. It took all his will power not to sweep ahead letting his mouth imitate what other parts of his body longed to do. Instead he let her shyly taste him and had to fight to keep from groaning in pleasure at her innocence.

Sarah was lost in sensation. The reality of being kissed by the Goblin King was so much better than any of her childhood fantasies or dreams. She was wrapped in his scent. The hard sure lines of his body were a stark contrast to the warm softness she was discovering as her tongue danced with his. She could hear his heartbeat and the rattle of soft breathing as they both tried to catch their breath without setting the other’s mouth free. Adrenaline surged through her bloodstream making her muscles quiver and her body ache. From one second to the next she’d slipped from wanting to wanton. 

It wasn’t until his hand moved down her back, to cup her bottom, and press her hips tighter against his that reality began to reassert itself. He was an extremely virile, experienced male and she had never been with a man before. He was a Fae king with powers she was only beginning to understand, and she was a human who had lost her way in his kingdom. Though she was sure he’d never do anything to hurt her on purpose she also knew that if this continued she would be badly hurt. It was inevitable. It was as much in his nature to seek new pleasures wherever he could find them as it was in hers to only find true pleasure with one everlasting love. Unfortunately, she was afraid that he was that love and they would be forever at cross purposes.

“You’re trembling,” he whispered as he felt her begin to pull back.

“I know.” She looked up into his passion-filled eyes and had the satisfaction of knowing that he had been affected too. “I can’t seem to stop. It’s…it’s been a long day.”

“There’s that too.” He nodded slightly and wondered if she realized what she did to him. 

“I should go in.” She tried to sound forceful and turn toward the cottage, but she could only stand with her arms around him staring into his beautiful face.

“Not yet. You need a moment.” His studied her huge eyes, disheveled hair and swollen lips. She had the look of a woman who had been well and truly kissed.

“You may be right. I think we’ve found a third thing you’re adept at.” She tried to laugh it off, but discovered she was serious. “I’m not sure my legs will hold me.” 

“I shall not let you fall.” He gave her one of his slow devilish smiles as he rested her head on his shoulder. 

“I don’t think that’s going to help.” The intimate touch of his body against hers made her very aware of the differences between a man and a woman and how well they might fit together. It took all her will power not to rock her hips against his hardness that was firmly pressed against her belly.

“Hush.” He buried his nose in her hair and held her close. “Just take deep even breaths until the shivering stops.” He held her as close as he could. It was a poor substitute for where they had been heading, but would have to do. He didn’t want to make love to her when she still had shadows of fear and confusion in her eyes that had been her constant companions since she’d tumbled back into his life. 

Sarah was unsure how long they remained wrapped around one another. It was long enough for her muscles to begin to relax and her blood cool as she tried not to think about how close she’d come to fulfilling some of her wilder fantasies with this man.

“Better?” he finally asked. 

“Yes, thank you,” she murmured, more aware of her body than she’d ever been. 

“You’re most welcome.” Jareth was still grinning as he ran a hand through her hair making each strand magically fall into place. “Come.” He offered his arm and she was relieved that her hand only shook slightly as she placed it carefully in the crook of his elbow

“Wait.” She tried to stop him as they left the shed, but he only slowed their pace. It was full night. Stars were out and an almost full moon was rising in the distance. “Take your jacket. I don’t want to forget it again. I can only imagine what Lord and Lady Dennimar must have thought when we arrived and it was still draped over my shoulders.”

“They thought exactly what I wanted them to think.” He remarked cryptically. “The night air is chilled. You continue wearing it until we’ve reached the warmth of the cottage.” 

Sarah rolled her eyes at his imperious nature but kept on walking since he wasn’t going to stop. 

They only made it as far as the front porch when their steps were halted by the sound of hoof beats coming rapidly up the road.

“Your Highness!” a lone rider called out as he jumped from the saddle of his horse and moved quickly though the gate. “Her Ladyship sent me. It is time. Magic has finally come into season.”


	7. Out of Control

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Jareth and Sarah materialized in the stable yards at Corramar Estate. Even from a distance, they could tell that every lantern was lit in the usually tranquil building that Moonbeam and Magic had called home for the last year. The soft light spilling out of each window added a surreal quality to the already strange evening.

“Sarah, I need to see to the unicorn first.” Jareth looked anxiously in the direction of the lower pasture, where the large white beast was giving voice to his displeasures. “You go ahead and see to the mare.”

“Wait!” she called out. “You take this. I’ve made enough of a spectacle of myself in it today.” She pulled his jacket from her shoulders and tossed it to him.

“Very well, but then you must take this.” As he spoke, he caught the black leather garment by its collar and with a flick of his wrist, swirled it in a circle. Something that sounded very much like the wild flapping of owls’ wings filled the air and the jacket became a long dove-gray lady’s cape.

“You are determined to have your own way, aren’t you?” she huffed in exasperation as he tossed the magically changed item back to her.

“I’ve never given any indication that I’m not.” He grinned and turned to leave.

Sarah rolled her eyes and was tempted to tell him _‘it wasn’t fair’_ for old times sake, but decided this wasn’t the time or place. 

“I bow to your admiral restraint, precious.” A deep chuckle from the Goblin King rang in her ears. He’d read her expression as if she’d spoken.

Sarah clutched the cape and ignored him. She would be very glad for the warmth of the heavy material around her shoulders as the night cooled into dawn, but at the moment she was disgruntled about how high-handed a certain monarch could be.

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Within an hour all was quiet again. Jareth had left with Moonbeam as soon as he’d made sure that Sarah had Magic well in hand. An assorted number of grooms and stable hands had followed not long after. Finally, the Dowager Queen had taken Millwinken, the Elvish animal healer, to the manor house with her.

“Poor thing, all those people only added to your confusion.” Sarah ran her fingers soothingly through the little horse’s long mane. She was exceedingly glad that everyone had left with the exception of Sir Jayord, Horse Master and head of the Dowager Queen’s Monoceros breeding program.

“Not to worry, ma’am, she’s a bit agitated tonight, Magic is, but that’s to be expected.” Jayord and the healer had carefully examined the mare. They knew almost to the minute when the best time to breed her would be. “Unless there’s any alteration, His Highness will return with that big white brute of his tomorrow afternoon, ‘long about four hours past midday. His waiting is almost over.”

“Yes, it is. Hers too, I guess.”

“I don’t envy His Majesty this night or yea either, lady Sarah.” Jayord patted the girl on the arm to give her what support he could. “Magic is out of sorts and on a good day Moonbeam can try the patience of the fates.”

“I’m sure Jar—King Jareth can be just as stubborn.” Sarah dipped her chin against the soft, strange material of the cape that was keeping out the night chill. It was a prime example of the Goblin King’s stubbornness.

“That he can be, ma’am, and has been ever since he was a lad.” the Horse Master chuckled. “Would yea be wanting me to stay and give yea hand?”

“No, we’ll be fine, but if you could see to the lanterns before you go, I’d appreciate it.” The unusually well-lit stable was hard on her tired eyes.

“No problem a’tall.” He waved one hand casually in the air and Sarah and Magic were left standing in a soft pool of light. All the other lamps had been extinguished.

“Thank you, that’s much better,” she sighed.

“I’ll be off then, but yea call out if yea need us, both Millwinken and I will be sleeping with one ear open tonight. We can be by your side in the blink of an eye.” He nodded and chewed on the stem of his unlit pipe.

“Thanks, I’ll do that.” She watched the man disappear into the darkness before she settled on a bale of hay that had been brought over beside the door to Magic’s stall. “Having power might not be such a bad thing,” she spoke earnestly to the horse. “I’d never have to use a step stool to reach things stored on high shelves. It makes traveling very handy and…and…” she sighed wistfully and reached into her pocket to pull out the crystal Jareth had given her. “And I can keep an eye on the ones I love.” Sarah watched Toby peacefully sleeping in the center of the orb. It had been a long time since she’d had anything positive to say or think about magic. It felt as if she’d finally come full circle. 

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Lady Sarah?” a small voice called quietly from outside the stable. “You in there, lady Sarah?”

“I’m here. Who is it?”

“It’s me, Rinda.” The young goblin moved haltingly into the building. She curtsied awkwardly in Sarah’s presence while balancing a large tray. “Before he left, His Highness instructed me to bring you supper. And the Dowager Queen wanted me ta tell ya that you’re ta come ta the main house when ya gets Magic settled for the night.”

“Thank you. Let me help you with that.” She stood wearily. The long day was beginning to take its toll.

“Oh no, ma’am, you stay comfortable. I’m good at heavy liftin’. It’s what I do.” Rinda grinned and demonstrated by pulling the tray up and down in a motion that reminded Sarah of someone doing bicep curls at the gym.

“In that case, please put it on that bale of hay.” She could see it was a matter of pride, so she didn’t argue, just pointed toward the stall across the aisle from where she was sitting stroking Magic’s forehead. “I’ll get to it when I get a chance. Her Highness’s offer is most kind, but I think it would be best if I stayed here tonight. Please let her know that I appreciate the invitation, but I’d feel better staying with Magic.”

“Yes ma’am.” Rinda looked decidedly nervous as she moved back and forth from one foot to the other. She was still standing in the middle of the stable with the tray held tightly in both hands.

“You can put my supper down, it’s all right.” Sarah wasn’t sure what she was missing, but something was bothering the little goblin.

“Well…ah…You need to eat, my lady. His Majesty gave strict instructions that I was ta be sure ya ate and ya was to do it when the food was still warm.” Rinda wasn’t sure how she was to carry out her monarch’s directive, but she had to try.

“Oh, very well,” Sarah sighed. He was being high-handed again, but it was useless to argue the point with anybody but him. Besides, her stomach had begun to growl at the scent of her dinner so it would have only made her look foolish to protest. “I’ll eat in there.” She nodded again to the large empty stall across from her.

“Yes, your ladyship.” With slow small steps Rinda moved carefully past Magic. She kept watching the animal as if it would jump out and bite her.

“You needn’t be afraid. She’s much calmer now,” Sarah assured her. “I appreciate you bringing me dinner.” She looked over the contents of the tray and poured a cup of tea. “Since you have to wait and watch over me, you should have brought a cup for yourself. We could have had tea together.”

“Oh no, ma’am, I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be seemly for me to sit to table with nobility.” The goblin was shocked at the impropriety of the suggestion.

“But I’m not!” Sarah exclaimed. “Where I came from, the area of the Aboveground where I used to live, everyone is considered equal.”

“That may be so, ma’am, but you live here now.”

“Yes, but I’m still no different from you.” Sarah sipped her tea and enjoyed the subtle flavor and scent of the brew. “We both work for Her Highness the Dowager Queen.”

“But your ladyship, you care for Moonbeam’s lady. I only care for the bits and pieces that need doing in the manor house.” Rinda was sure that would convince the strange human, but when Sarah continued to give her a blank look she went on. “You do what you do ‘cause Magic chose you and the unicorn gave his blessing. ‘Sides no one takes care of Her Highness’ special ones who isn’t…well special themselves.”

“But that doesn’t make me…”

“Lady Sarah, you command the King’s magic,” the goblin whispered in awe. “I know. I saw his gift to you, when I was actin’ as your lady’s maid that morning.”

“You didn’t tell anyone, did you?” Sarah remembered Jareth’s warnings to keep the crystal a secret, though it was obvious that Galen knew about it.

“No, ma’am. My loyalty is to the King. I would carry no tales.”

“But I’m just a stable hand!” Things were slipping out of Sarah’s control. It didn’t make sense that she’d suddenly feel as if she was in free-fall just because she discovered her job wasn’t as menial as she had thought.

“Ellamora Kilhaggen served Her Majesty for most of her adult life, but the blood of Ellsinore, the great Elf king who helped Oberon tame the magic of the Underground and claim it for all beings of power, runs in her veins.

“But I have no royal blood. I’m human.” The young woman insisted. “I have no magic, or powers of any kind.”

“Power comes from what ever source it pleases, not just the Labyrinth, ma’am. ‘Sides you haven’t been here long enough to come into your own. Just give it time. I got a feeling you’ll be right powerful ones everything settles out.” Rinda hid a gentle grin. It was easy to see where lady Sarah got her present power, but as the goblin had said earlier, she carried no tales about her king.

“Are you saying I’ll eventually have magic?”

“Well, ‘course. ‘Tis the way of the Underground. Human’s are especially susceptible to its strength. Without it the wished-away children would die long before their parents and be a heartache instead of the joy they bring many families.” The small goblin whispered when she spoke of the children brought by the King. “Magic is as magic does. The lost ones of your realm help sustain ours.”

“But I’m an adult.” Sarah had wondered why she had seen no adult humans, only a child or two scattered through the village. She had assumed they had been adopted by local family’s and not given it another thought.

“Only time will tell, Ma’am but you are special, there is no denying that. Magic and Moonbeam think so.” In her mind Rinda added ‘and His Majesty does too.’ To have said it out loud would have been to have spoken of things that were far above her station in life and she was a goblin who would carry no tales about her king. “Give yourself time or better yet, ask His Highness.”

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Long after Rinda had left, Sarah was reflecting on their conversation. She was glad for the demands the young mare made on her time, because she knew she wouldn’t have slept. The idea that she might gain magic and that Toby most certainly would played with every fantasy she believed she’d outgrown. It also gave her hope. If she were no longer a mundane human, but one with powers would it make her more acceptable to Jareth.

She remembered her first time in the Labyrinth. How dashing and fascinating the Goblin King had seemed, at the same time he’d frightened her. Now she understood that fear. It had been sexual attraction, something she hadn’t a clue how to deal with then. Laughing she realized she wasn’t all that sure what to do about it even now. She knew if she were really brave, she’d throw caution to the wind. She’d seen it in his eyes that afternoon and felt it in his kiss that evening. He was attracted to her as well. She had no doubt that he would teach her all the things she had yet to learn. But then what? She had no illusions that she could hold his attention for long. What would she do when he went on to another, once his fascination with her had waned? That was the crux of her problem. Sarah knew that as a child of fifteen she’d been in love with the idea of him, but as a woman of twenty-one, she loved the being she’d come to know. It didn’t matter that he was egotistical and demanding nor that he had taken children from their homes and would do so again when called upon. She loved him faults, glitter, glamour and all.

In the cool light of breaking dawn she was facing some very real facts. She had been devastated when she’d thought she’d killed Jareth six years earlier. If she gave into the temptation of an affair with him now, when it was over, her devastation would be nearly as great, but this time there would be no getting away from him. She was destined to live out her life under his rule and if Rinda was correct, it would be a very long life. A day didn’t go by when someone didn’t mention his name or she didn’t see him in passing in the distance. Sarah knew she wasn’t strong enough to live like that if they had been lovers. If she possessed magic would she feel different?

****

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

By two hours past mid-day everything was set and Magic was getting more and more boisterous. Her hormones were about to peak and she felt strange urges and needs that made her temper flare. She wanted Moonbeam by her side and was fiercely angry at him for not being there. She hadn’t felt so conflicted since she was a very young filly.

Sarah wasn’t faring much better than the young mare. Between her restless mind and her almost as restless charge, she had only been able to grab a few hours of sleep, just past sunrise. After a quick lunch, time seemed to grind to a halt, causing her nerves and muscles to tighten in anticipation. She was very glad she’d had a chance to bathe quickly and change her dress while Jayord and Millwinken transferred the horse to the far paddock.

“It shouldn’t be much longer now.” Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins appeared by Sarah’s side. “I thought you might need this.” She handed the young woman a floppy-brimmed straw hat.

“Thank you, ma’am, that’s very kind of you to think of me.” Sarah was glad for the shade the hat provided. She’d been careful to keep her head covered when working in the sun, but in their haste to depart Ellamora’s cottage the night before, Jareth hadn’t given her a chance to collect any of her things.

“It is I who should thank you.” Livia smiled sincerely. “You’ve been wonderful with Magic.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, but one can hardly tell by her antics this morning.” Sarah shook her head as the young horse tried to dance away from her handlers.

“That’s her spirit showing. She would be a poor mate for her chosen one, if she let herself be docilely led about all the time. A strong male needs a strong female if they are to breed true.”

“She does have spirit.” The girl smiled at her charge. “But she’s a loving thing. I’ve needed her as much as she needed me.” She was being more honest than she intended, but it was too late to pull back the words so she finished. “I’m afraid if I hadn’t had her to tend to and love these last few weeks I would have smothered poor Toby trying to feel useful and necessary.”

“You’ve done a marvelous job with your brother, and my horse. It can’t have been easy while learning to adjust to a way of life so different from what you’re used to.” The Queen delicately didn’t mention the loss of Sarah’s parents. She knew the Williams children were still grieving and would talk about them when they were ready. “I heard about yesterday afternoon. It seems as if Toby has some wonderful qualities of his own.” Her eyes sparkled at the idea of the human boy’s fearless defense of Maia.

“Oh no, what have you heard? It had to be Sir Didymus who spilled the beans.” Sarah buried her face in her hands. She knew the small knight often stopped off for tea and to reminisce about the old days with the Dowager Queen. She was sure that was how Her Highness stayed so well informed without leaving Corramar, but she’d hoped the events of yesterday would remain between those who had been present when it happened.

“I heard about your brother’s gallantry from my son. That rascally old fox is far too loyal to you and the King to carry tales, even to me. Though I’m sure he enjoyed a good chuckle over it in the privacy of his bog.” Livia laughed softly at the picture she had created in her mind.

“I’m sure he did,” Sarah sighed. It was too soon to find anything that happened yesterday funny. She’d been too worried about her brother when she’d first discovered that he was in trouble. “Have you heard anything from Jar—” she quickly corrected herself, “Have you any news from His Highness today? Did Moonbeam give him a bad night?”

“My dear,” Livia stepped closer to the girl so she could speak as quietly as possible. “It is quite permissible for you to call him by his given name among the family.”

“I know, it’s just…” She shrugged, hating to admit the truth.

“You think of him that way don’t you?” The Dowager Queen had guessed Sarah’s feelings weeks earlier, “By his name, not just his title.” It warmed the part of her that was a mother to know that this young woman cared about her son and not just the Goblin King.

“Yes, ma’am, I do.” Sarah was flustered and afraid her feelings were on display. “I don’t want to forget and cause him embarrassment.”

“He is exceedingly proud of you. I sincerely doubt there is anything you could do that would embarrass him.” From the odd look on Sarah’s face, Livia wondered if she’d said more than she ought. After a moment’s thought she didn’t care. She’d been waiting around for a grandchild for decades and she wasn’t getting any younger while Jareth sat back and ‘let Sarah find herself’. At the rate he was going, he’d let this remarkable young woman slip through his fingers again. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her son was a trifle afraid of showing his true feelings to the young human.

“But etiquette requires that I use certain forms of address.” Ellamora had been most insistent when teaching her the ways of conducting herself in society.

“That’s true and it is admirable that you are making a sincere attempt to learn our ways, but you’re a newcomer and as such are forgiven the occasional error. I find it charming and refreshing that you’re unused to duplicity. The formality will come with practice.” Having dealt with that, Livia went back to Sarah’s original question. “I did receive a short message from my son early in the day.” She grinned at the tone and temper of the missive. “It would appear that it took all his ingenuity and magic to keep Moonbeam from transporting himself back to where he wanted to be. I believe we will find that Jareth had a trying night.” Her musical laughter reminded Sarah of Christmas bells and angels’ wings.

“I’m glad you found my situation so entertaining, mother.” Jareth appeared a few feet from the two women. He was holding tightly to Moonbeams bridle. The unicorn was shaking his head tying to get free of the Fae whose strength of will had been all that kept him in the castle stable the last fifteen hours. “Jayord, Millwinken come and take this animal before he finds himself withers-deep in the Bog of Eternal Stench! The beast kept me awake most of the night.” He grumbled as he passed the bridle to the Horse Master.

“Magic was just as impolite to poor Sarah.” Livia stood back and watched the two younger people consider each other. They made a striking couple. Jareth’s midnight black cape rustling in the wind was a sharp contrast to his white blonde hair and silk shirt. He stood straight and proud in deep-gray breeches and tall leather boots, looking every inch a Goblin King at his leisure. Sarah’s dark, thick hair flowed over the shoulders of her long, dove-gray cape. Her elf-style burgundy dress brought out her coloring despite her sleepless night.

“So I see.” Jareth stepped forward and took one of Sarah’s hands in his, while he ran a gloved thumb over the dark circles under her eyes. She knew that despite her bath, clean hair, and fresh dress she looked slightly wilted around the edges and found it the height of rudeness that he would point out further imperfections.

‘How dare he show up here this afternoon claiming fatigue when he looked his usual strong and very capable self?' she fumed silently. “I am doing just fine, Your Majesty,” she practically spit out his title in defiance, knowing he preferred that she used his name when in private.

“I can see that as well.” His eyes danced as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles in a gesture that lingered on the border between courtly and sensual. “I was beginning to think you’d outgrown that sharp tongue of yours,” the Goblin King’s words were drowned out to all but Sarah as Magic caught Moonbeams scent and her high-pitched mating call rang across the hills. “Come, ladies, it is beginning.”

“We’re going to watch?” Sarah grabbed Jareth’s arm as he would have guided her to the fenced-in pasture.

“It is the only way we can guarantee who is the sire.” He put his arm lightly around her shoulders. Livia had moved on ahead to join Jayord and Millwinken at the gate where they’d just let the stallion into the pasture.

“I hadn’t thought of that.” With all the preparation that had gone into this day, Sarah’s mind had always shied away form the actual act. “It seems a bit voyeuristic.”

“By now they’ve forgotten we’re here, so there is no harm done. It is the way it is done when breeding. It assures the bloodline.” Jareth spoke casually as he walked beside Sarah to the pasture fence nearest them. “Though in this case, it is purely a technicality. There is no doubt in my mind that the unicorn would kill any animal who tried to intervene.”

The afternoon had gone suddenly strange. Sarah was very aware of the feel of wood under her hands as she gripped the top rung of the fence. The sun was unusually bright and made her squint despite the large floppy brim of her hat. The air had become heavy with a scent she couldn’t place. As she breathed deeply she felt the blood pounding in her ears and her mouth went dry. She almost felt Jareth’s long body an inch away from her back. His gloved hands were beside hers, trapping her between him and the fence. No matter how much she wanted to lean back and sink against him, she was frozen in place, unable to take her eyes off what was transpiring in the pasture.

Magic pranced past the unicorn, her hooves high and her step light. As she passed him she turned and called out a teasing whinny. When he moved closer to her she ran to the far corner of the pasture and turned her back, her tail whipping quickly in the air, offering him a tantalizing view of what he sought. He charged and she swung around and raced away, refusing to be cornered so easily. Sarah lost track of time as Magic and Moonbeam dashed and snipped at one another.

“What are they doing?” Sarah whispered unable to take her eyes off the animals. She didn’t know when she’d leaned back so Jareth could take her weight, but she knew it was necessary.

“They’re dancing,” he murmured as his thumbs moved in slow circles inside her curled palms.

Magic slowed suddenly, her gait uneven. It appeared her sleepless night was finally catching up with her. As Moonbeam came up from behind, he attempted to nip her shoulder to hold her in place. She let out a high-pitched snort and pulled away with a saucy shout over her shoulder, daring the unicorn to follow. Her tail was high in the air as she raced down the paddock. He reared up on his haunches in protest and gave chase. His hooves thundered a warning that his patience was almost over. This time as he swooped passed he bumped lightly into her side. At the instant of contact they both vanished!

“By the Seven Crystals, what is that beast up to?!” Jareth gasped as he put his arms tightly around a very surprised Sarah. “We’ve got them! No one else is to follow!” He called to the astonished crowd. Then he and Sarah vanished, as well.

Moments later, Sarah found herself standing on a huge bolder overlooking a lush valley that was surrounded by high mountains on all sides. If Jareth hadn’t been holding her close she would have fallen. His mode of transportation was going to take some getting used to. Thirty feet below, Moonbeam was chasing a frantically racing Magic through the tall grass.

“Where are we?” she cried out. The air was thinner and so was the light. It reminded Sarah of a late September afternoon, but everything had the lush green of early summer.

“It’s the Valley of the Moon.” Jareth’s eyes moved carefully over each rock and bolder never relaxing his vigil. “This is the mating ground of the unicorns. I’ve never known a horse to be transported here. Moonbeam must have had enough of her nonsense and decided to take control.” His words were clipped. His attention was focused on watching the valley.

“Do we have to worry about a rogue male showing up and trying to claim Magic?” Sarah bit her lip and watched the animals in the distance.

“Possibly, but it’s late in the season. Most unicorns have moved on to their summer grazing areas. And we’re too high in the mountains for any of the wild horses to bother us. Nothing that doesn’t fly or have the power to transport can gain entrance.”

“Is he going to be all right?”

“I don’t know. I need to get closer to them, just in case there is a problem. I didn’t know he had the ability or strength to bring her here, or we would have done things differently. As it is, I’m not too sure how well he would show in a fight if he was challenged.”

“I’m coming with you.” Sarah threw her arms around him so he wouldn’t leave her standing on the far sidelines.

“If you insist.” He smiled down at her as he pulled a crystal from the air and let its power take them to the rocks ten feet above where Moonbeam had finally cornered Magic.

The little sable horse was tiring fast. She’d thought she known what it was like to be in the wild, but she was sadly mistaken. The high, rugged mountains towered over her and left her no exit. They blocked the bright sun she loved and spoke to her of ancient times and rituals long lost to her kind. The tall grass that looked so tasty tickled her belly and made her tremble with longing for the large white unicorn that was chasing her. Then from close above her, she felt the calming presence of her human and it gave her the courage she needed to turn her back on her prancing mate and raise her tail in offering.

Sarah had to cover her mouth to keep from gasping when she got her fist good look at Moonbeam since they had arrived in the valley. He was rearing in the air, stretching long sinewy muscles as he slowly unsheathed. She had a vague memory of her old sheepdog, Merlin, attempting to cover the neighbor’s mutt late one spring night, but she’d been very young at the time. There had been none of the visceral power and total awareness that made the air vibrate all around her as a large full moon rose in the late afternoon sky of the Underground.

“He’d never hurt her, my dear.” Jareth tried to reassure Sarah as she stood frozen beside him.

“Not on purpose, but…but she’s so tiny in comparison.” She shrugged helplessly wanting to hide her eyes, but she’d had enough of being afraid.

“Sarah, come here,” the Goblin King whispered as he turned her to him and wrapped an arm around her neck, burying her face in his shoulder. She thought she felt him kiss her forehead, but the sound of the stallion as he triumphantly announced his claim and mounted his mate ripped through the air. Sarah gave up all pretenses of bravery and gripped Jareth tightly while she burrowed her face tighter against his long hair. If she was lucky she hoped to block sound as well as sight. Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the answering squeal that came from Magic. It was half pain and half pleasure and made the woman moan as if she were the one being entered by her lover. Sarah was completely unaware that was she rocking her pelvis forward until Jareth’s arm around her waist, slid lower and tightened to lock her abdomen against his hips.

She lost track of time as she held tightly to him, while the sounds and scents of passion flowed around her. She was afraid to move and afraid not to as one second slowly merged into another. Desire curled in her belly and fought with common sense. “Please, Jareth,” she gasped in his ear. She wasn’t sure what she was asking for, just that he held all the answers.

“Hush,” he murmured holding her closer with arms that trembled. “I’ve made too many mistakes with you already. I don’t plan on making another.”

“But I only want…” Her eyes fluttered and her body moved against his.

“I know what you want, my dear, but not here, like this. Hold on tight, it won’t be much longer.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking about what was going on below or his ability to withstand her charms. Either way, he’d obtained his objective of the moment: Sarah was resting quietly in his arms.

The sun was beginning to set and the air cool when Jareth finally spoke again. “I’m going to move us below so we can assess the animals. Are you ready?” He smiled when she gripped the back of his shirt and pressed her face tighter against his shoulder.

He snuggled her closer and simply straightened his posture, thereby also lifting her feet a few inches off the ground. With her body draped full-length against his, it was necessary to grit his teeth to keep from groaning in pleasure. Moments later they were surrounded by grass that came to Jareth’s waist. The soft lowing of a horse and a unicorn could be heard from three feet away.

“As I feared, they’re in no condition to travel tonight.” He sighed. It was going to be another very long night if he was going to spend it with Sarah and not make love to her.

“We should stay with them.” She could see Magic leaning against Moonbeam’s side, exhaustedly nibbling on the grass. “Will we need to worry about other unicorns trying to challenge him? Neither of them appears as if they’d survive it.”

“They are safe, pheromones dissipate quickly. That is what attracts wandering males.” Jareth looked around to get his bearings. It had been a while since he’d been in the valley. “There is a stream nearby so they’ll have plenty of water and spring grass is at its prime. Unless there is rain, those two will have most of the comforts of home.”

“What about us?”

“We’ll make do.” He smiled gently at the lovely picture she made with her hair and cape blowing out behind her in the wind. Her cheeks were flushed and it took all his effort not to pull her close and kiss her. “You’ve managed to lose your hat.”

“It belongs to your mother.” Sarah reached reflexively to check for the missing object. “I’ll need to find it.”

“I doubt she’ll be upset, but we’ll attend to that task in the morning.” He put his arm lightly around her shoulder. “Come, let’s leave them in peace.”

They found a grassy niche in the rocks not far from the stream. It was protected from the evening winds, but allowed them to keep a watchful eye on their charges.

“Sit.” Jareth lowered himself to the ground without letting go of Sarah. “The grass is dry. It should be a tolerable night once I see to some supper for us.”

“What did you mean before, when you said you’d made too many mistakes with me all ready?” she asked as she sat beside him and watched him roll a crystal from hand to hand.

“Precisely that.” He’d wondered how long it would take her to remember what he’d said, but for the moment he needed to focus. His powers had been used extensively over the last twenty-six hours and he was tired too. When he felt the finished spell humming in his hands, he tossed the magic orb to the ground and it exploded leaving behind an elaborately set picnic. “Here, drink this. It’s a good vintage and will go with my roast and your vegetables.” He handed her a goblet filled with red wine.

“Jareth, you can’t say something like that and leave it hanging.” She sipped the wine and wondered if he ever missed anything. His pointed reference to her dinner, versus his, made it obvious that he knew she’d been unable to eat meat of any kind since returning to the Underground. Her experience with the talking worm six years earlier had made a lasting impression.

“I’m not ignoring your question. I thought it would be a good idea for us to have this conversation with some food in our stomachs.” He knew once he ate, it would help refresh his powers.

“You’re probably right,” Sarah laughed softly. “I’ve got some other questions as well. Rinda, one of the upstairs maids, said something to me last night that I don’t understand.”  
“Go on,” he sighed sure he knew where this was leading.

She pondered her wine, unsure how to phrase her question. “It has to do with my job or my placement at Ellamora’s, or something. She talks to me and treats me like I have some elevated station in the fabric of Underground society. It doesn’t make sense. I’m a human. I have no power, though she indicated I do or will… she didn’t really want to talk about it.”

“It is a matter that isn’t usually discussed.” He took a bite of his meal and chewed. “I am sure you realize by now that the children who are wished away aren’t turned into Goblins but are adopted into our society. Beings with magic have extremely long lives and infertility is an issue. Without the children from above we would eventually die out. As those children grow, they are equals among their peers. It is considered impolite to differentiate between species except in politics and only then when the balance between the realms is involved.”

“That’s why Lord and Lady Dennimar backed down so quickly yesterday. They had not only insulted Toby as a ‘human’, but Maia as well and they knew their King was aware of the information.” The knowledge made Sarah feel safer. Human’s weren’t persecuted in the Underground, even if the inhabitance had a poor view of wishers-away.

“That is correct.” Jareth grinned proud of having the upper hand so easily the day before. “A child that is conceived and nurtured here will have magic, in every species except Goblins. A wished-away child will gain powers at puberty like every other child of magic in the Underground. Power is in the water, food and air all around us. The very ground breathes it. Each being, Fae, Human, Elf, Fairy, and even those damn pixies are different. Believing and accepting magic, as well as training, has a lot to do with how strong an individual will become. Some choose to never use it, others use nothing else. Keep in mind the rulers of the different realms are granted extra power at their coronation and the Goblin King and Queen have access to great stores of magic through the Labyrinth.” 

“That’s a lot to take in.” Sarah watched the light from the rising moon dance off his face. It was hard for her to believe that one day she would possess magic, but she was thrilled Toby would. Given how young he was he will be a true child of Underground.

“There’s more.” He added. “How much of our history have you learned?” Jareth kept eating, as he mentally added one more mistake to the long list of his errors in dealing with Sarah. “Beyond the instruction you received yesterday evening, that is.”

“The basics. I’ve been reading Toby’s text books to catch up and Ellamora is very informative.”

“Good.” He took a sip of wine before continuing. “Then you know who Oberon was?”

“Yes, he and Ellsinore, the ancient Elf King, found and tamed the Underground. They led beings of magic from the above, where they’d been living in harmony with mankind. Oberon had seen the coming of the dark ages, witch hunts, and inquisitions and feared for his people.”

“That is correct, but what may not be written in the children’s school books is that to prevent prejudice against Abovegrounders, the doors were left open between the two worlds. Humans could come and go as they pleased and many chose to stay. That all changed when old Lord Dennimar was killed.” He was glad that bit of history had already been covered. “After that a being with power had free access to any world, but mortals were deemed too dangerous and were isolated to your realm. Now the only decedents of humans who live here are the children and grandchildren of those who stayed when the main entry was sealed and the wished-away children. As you’ve probably guessed, something in them changes, they are more Fae than Human. It makes them equal citizens of the Underground. That gain magic and longevity just like the rest of the population.”

“But what does all that have to do with me?”

“It makes you unique. You are the first adult human to be allowed permanent access to the Underground since my grandfather’s time.” Jareth finished his wine in one gulp to fortify his courage. “I would have been a fool to have placed you in a position where your rank was in question.”

“You did it for my protection?”

“Yes, and because I have hopes for your future.” He was starkly honest and it made her catch her breath. “It answered my needs to have you thought of as aristocracy. I knew that where you came from class was of no importance, but it is here. Now the only true hurdle to my desired outcome is in your hands.”

“What outcome, exactly, is that?” Sarah felt cold and dizzy as she asked. She had the strange illusion of time moving very quickly as she spoke, then slowing to a crawl as she waited for his answer.

“I want you. I have from the beginning.” Each word dropped into the cooling night air, sending out a ripple that made Sarah flinch as she absorbed it.

“But I was a young teen six years ago,” her voice cracked. He’d finally given voice to something she’d known for a long time. Off in a far distant corner of her mind she wondered why she was so surprised. “You said, yesterday evening, when we talked at Ellamora’s, that a King never would have…that you never would have…seduced a wisher-away,” she accused. Then everything fell into place. “That’s what you meant yesterday afternoon in the Escher room when you said my first trip here had never been about Toby. It was about your need, your wants!”

“This is precisely the conversation I wished to have after dinner.” He scowled and moved his hand over their unfinished meal, making it disappear. He wisely left the wine bottle and goblets. “Six years ago, your brother was not yours to wish away. Only a parent or one who has total responsibility for a child has that ability.”

“So you just brought me here anyway, because you ‘wanted me’!” She was angry when she thought of her anguish during the hours she’d been in the Labyrinth and her despair the six years following when she’d believed she’d killed a Goblin King. “My God, Jareth, I was too young to understand any of it and it didn’t help that you were so cryptic: ‘fear me, love me and I will be your slave.’ Yeah, that was clear as mud that you weren’t going to hurt Toby…just…just…well that you wanted…that you wanted…me. I would have been immensely flattered, but I couldn’t have…well you know…not then.” Her anger had dissipated over her tirade and she was left blushing and suddenly shy.

“No, you couldn’t have, not then.” He agreed quietly as he rested his palm on her long white neck and rubbed her jaw with his thumb. “I never would have asked it of you.” 

“It would have helped if you’d been a bit nicer, too.” She pouted at the memory of being chased by the cleaners and almost falling into the Bog of Eternal Stench. But all of that was in the past and it couldn’t be changed. What was important was where they were going from here.

“I could have been, but I was angry, that something – no, someone – I didn’t want to believe in, really existed. I’ve thought about it a great deal over the years and I believe that I brought you here then, to try and prove that you meant nothing at all to me.”

“So you ended up hating me six years ago?” It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but their time for truth had finally come and she wasn’t going to flinch away from it.

“No, my dear,” he whispered. “Your stubborn determination and pride only made me want you more.”

“I was a brat.” Sarah insisted. “I don’t know how you could have put up with me.”

“Let’s just say I saw your potential and leave it at that.” He grinned, knowing she spoke the truth, but so did he.

“Oh, well,” she gulped at his honesty. “Then, since we’re being honest with each other,” her lips quivered and tears filled her eyes, making speaking difficult. “I want you, as well. I did back then, too, but it frightened me because I didn’t understand what I was feeling. The only thing that was clear to me was that I couldn’t let you have Toby.” She was tired of fighting her feelings for Jareth. “I lied that night when I said you had no power over me.” She admitted softly.

“I know. Do I still frighten you?” he managed to ask through clenched teeth. This was neither the time nor the place for her admission. He pulled her tightly against him to try and relieve the blood pounding in his ears.

“No…well, maybe a little bit, but not like before. I don’t suppose being the King’s mistress would be so bad,” she spoke haltingly against his neck. “There are some countries in the Aboveworld where it can actually elevate a woman’s status in society.” She was trying to make light of a serious situation, but couldn’t find it in herself to laugh.

“Mistress?” he questioned. He gripped her upper arms and pulled her away from him just far enough so their eyes met. He was taking no chances that she might misunderstand. “I’ve never wanted you for my mistress. No wonder you’ve been so skittish around me since your returned. As your absolute monarch it is something I could demand of any female, if it were in my nature, but it is not. I wish to court you….”

“Wait, hold on a second,” she interrupted. “You mean court -- like the word is used in the Underground…like…like pre-engagement?” Her brows rose in astonishment.

“Not only do I wish to court you, but I wish to make you my queen. That has always been my desire.”

“But you can’t.” Doubt filled her face as she realized what he was offering and what it would cost him if she agreed to it. Her days of believing in fairytale endings were long past. Becoming a realist had kept her sane six years ago, now it would keep him safe.

“I am king. I can do whatever I please.” He knew that the High Court would question any marriage choice he made, but especially this one. It was in their nature. More importantly, he knew that in the end he would prevail.

“It’s because you are the Goblin King that I can’t. I’m a human adult. What if I never attain any magic. The only status I have is an illusion that you manufactured for me.”  
“Your status is not an illusion and I believe you already may have magic. Six years ago, before you wished your brother away, you added a few lines of your own to the story. _‘But what no one knew was that the Goblin King had given the girl certain powers.’_ That is why my Goblins gave you the correct words when Toby was never yours to give away.”

“I was just a kid playing with words.”

“In my world words have power. Moonbeam recognized abilities. He bowed to you and that unicorn bows to no one.” Jareth insisted. “You’ve been fighting being in the Underground since you arrived. Let its powers heal you and further awaken yours.” Jareth bushed her cheek gently.

“I know about the problems Marilee had when she and Galen wished to marry. Her position was secured at birth. She can trace her ancestors back to the beginning of the Underground. I will not cost you your kingdom or put you in jeopardy in any way.”

“Leave the High Court to me.” He insisted. “They have taken joy in complaining about my martial status for decades, why should they complain when I am finally following their advice.

They sat very close as the light faded and the first evening stars come out to join the moon. Sarah was determined not to cry, though her heart was breaking. Jareth watched her carefully as he weighed his arguments. She was fated to be his. This time he would not let her go.

“Come here, you’re freezing.” He’d seen her shivering and wasn’t sure if it was their subject or the night air, that was causing the reaction, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Either way he wanted her as close to him as he could get her. He lifted her onto his lap and pulled his cloak around them as he tucked her against his shoulder. “I can’t light a fire. Magic is as disturbed by the smell of smoke as you are.”

“I knew she was a smart horse.” Sarah curled against his warmth, glad that they’d moved on to other things. She’d have this one night sleeping beside him and it would have to last her a lifetime.

“Are you comfortable?” He looked down at her dark head resting on his shoulder.

“Yes, very much so, thank you. You’re nice and warm to snuggle up to.”

“Good,” he snorted in a very un-kingly fashion. “I don’t believe I’ve ever been told that before. I’ve heard that I’m…” She quickly covered his mouth with her palm before he could go on.

“Please, spare me the details!”

He laughed, she was correct, he’d much rather show her, but now was not the time. He settled for pulling her closer to resume his discussion. “It is because you are of human ancestry that we will not receive the opposition that Galen did.”

“Jareth, I don’t want to argue with you.” She should have known better than to think he’d give up. She’d never met a being as tenacious as the Goblin King.

“Good, because it’s not my plan either. You need to understand a few political truths. It was the fact that Marilee is of mixed-blood that caused their problem. Each king or queen has total control of his or her lands. None have superiority over the another. If there is discord or assistance is needed, it will be solved diplomatically in the High Court. It is this balance of power that some individuals believed would be destroyed if my primary aide and advisor had close ties to the kingdom of the elves. Some worried about an unofficial alliance between us. It was feared that, if it existed, our two realms could control the Court. It was ridiculous and unfounded, but the charge was led by old Lord Harlan Dennimar and he had some powerful followers at that time.”

“Harlan Dennimar? That would be Mortimer’s grandfather, and the father of the present Lord Dennimar?” It was getting easier for Sarah to remember all the family names and their importance.

“Yes, old Harlan was bitter and wanted revenge because he believed my grandfather was at fault for his father’s death and the disgrace it brought his family. The only good that came out of the incident was that Sedgwick, the present Lord, saw the damage his father’s continued animosity was doing to the name of Dennimar. Since he inherited the title, he’s done everything in his power to rebuild his family’s reputation and return honor to his name.”

“How were you able to resolve the matter in Galen and Marilee’s favor?”

“It was a simple enough affair, though it could have ended disastrously.” Jareth shook his head at the memory. “Old Harlan was crafty. He waited until days before the wedding to lodge his complaint. His target was Marilee. She was young, barely sixteen. It took the combined efforts of Galen, and her mother to keep her from bolting. As I understand it she had a plan and would have escaped over the boarder into Elvdom if the ruling had gone against them. But in the end it was as simple as Ellamora, Marilee and Galen having to publicly swear allegiance to the Goblin Kingdom. The whole thing was a farce, and a waste of time. Marilee and Galen had been born here and were citizens by right of birth. Nothing more should have been asked of them. Ellamora had already gone through that particular indignity once when she joined my mother’s staff and again when she married General Cottsworth, the Fae captain of my father’s personal guard.”

“The problems that have existed between your family and the Dennimars are why you insisted on handling the fight between the boys yesterday, isn’t it?”

“Partly, but I had personal reasons as well. Toby needs male guidance if he’s to grow to his full potential.”

“I appreciate the time you’ve taken with him.”

“And the time I’ve taken with his sister, do you appreciate that as well?” Jareth ran his fingers through her hair, making her sigh.

“Yes, very much.” She pulled back so she was facing him but stayed close enough that she was still sitting on his lap. “You are everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more. You have the power to turn my world upside down and have done it at least twice in my lifetime. I will agree to let you court me, but I cannot promise that I will marry you.” Tears of doubt filled her eyes. “So much has happened in the last six months, I need time to sort out my emotions. And as trite as it may sound I hardly know you.”

“That is exactly what a period of courtship is designed for.” He spoke with easy determination and added. “A king, who can not designate and win the female of his choice, is not strong enough to maintain his title. I plan on keeping both my kingdom and my woman.” He was done discussing this matter tonight. Now he had more pleasurable pursuits in mind.

Sarah couldn’t help smiling at his determined expression. “My dear Sir, your reputation with the ladies precedes you. I know that you do find me desirable.” She laughed outright when he growled in agreement and dug his fingers into her sides. “There could only be one reason why you didn’t take me to your bed when you had the chance, twice yesterday and at least once today.”

“Ah well, yesterday is easily explained away. We were never really alone and today, well, today, we had Moonbeam and Magic to worry about.” He sounded as bored as if he were comparing one waistcoat to another.

“No, I don’t think that’s the answer,” she laughed in pure joy for the first time since the fire.

“Then what is it?” he spoke quietly, daring her to tell him the truths he needed to hear.

“It’s that you care deeply for me,” her voice broke it was so full of emotion.

“But modern-day Fae don’t let silly feelings get in the way of their desires.” Jareth brushed his leather-clad fingers deep into her hair, pulling it back and up away from her face. He wanted to see her smallest expression in the moonlight.

“So I’ve heard said.” With each word Sarah leaned closer. “But since I believe that I love you,” she whispered against his lips. “I can only hope that you aren’t all that modern a Fae.”

“I’m not!” his words were decisive as he gave in to the kiss he’d been longing for since he and Moonbeam had appeared in the stable yard at Corramar, hours earlier.

Sarah’s body was on fire as Jareth held her tightly and explored her mouth. She wanted more. She wanted it all, but was unsure how to proceed. Unable to say the words, she reached for his hand and began to tug at one white leather glove.

“What…” He pulled back just far enough to see what she was doing. In the moonlight her face shone as she sat on his lap and carefully worked the supple material off first one of his hands and then the other. He discovered that the dance of her fingers against his palms and wrists was strangely erotic. It made him wonder what it would feel like if she were to remove the rest of his garments, instead of his usual practice of having them simply vanish.

“There,” she sighed and smiled as she bent her head to kiss his palm.

“Sarah!” His fingers twitched and brushed against her face. Jareth wrapped his free arm around her shoulder and would have rolled them to the ground but she stopped him.

“Not yet, please.” Sarah was shy and unsure, but she wanted him to touch her as much as she needed to breathe. She gripped his wrist and pulled his right hand to cover her left breast. As his hand cupped her, she threw her head back and arched her neck. Wonderful sensations hummed through her body.

“Is this what you wanted, my love?” He ran his thumb across her hardening nipple, causing her to cry out.

“I’ve wanted you to touch me like that since we stood on the rocks above, while Magic and Moonbeam joined.” She could hardly get the words around the powerful emotions that curled in her belly and screamed along her nerve endings. She was sure she’d topple to the ground if she wasn’t still gripping his wrist for balance.

He slowly lowered her to the ground wanting to touch every inch of her body, to see her exquisite responses to feeling pleasure for the first time. He covered her body with his as he kissed her deeply. His tongue probed her warm mouth while his fingers tweaked and played along the side of her breast. When he finally relented and grasped her nipple between one long finely sculpted thumb and forefinger, Sarah gasped and pressed her body upward against his.

“You make me feel strange and wild,” her voice shook and she hardly recognized it. She prayed that what she felt was love and not simple lust for the being who had haunted her dreams for years.

He was amazed how open and responsive she was despite her obvious innocence. He was used to women who were much more experienced and jaded about sex. “The way you make me feel is no less wild.” He rocked his hips against her stomach and gently kneaded her breast at the same time he tweaked her nipple with his thumbnail.

“Jareth, please,” Sarah begged, but her cry was all but drowned out by Moonbeam’s agitated snort and Magic’s surprised whinny.

“Easy, love, easy,” Jareth whispered in frustration. He wrapped both arms around her and held her close. The blood coursed through his veins and his breeches were fitting far tighter than even he was used to wearing them. “The animals are picking up our emotions and it is causing them distress.

“Distress?” Sarah almost choked on the word. “They haven’t a clue what distress really feels like! It’s not fair!” she cried as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. “We had to put up with their passion.”  
“I know, my dear.” He kissed her forehead and then rocked her gently, giving her time for her blood to cool and her passion to subside. “We can’t take the chance on frightening them. Moonbeam might take it into his head to try and transport them away. It could have disastrous results in his exhausted condition.”

“Will you hold me until I fall asleep?” Sarah looked sadly up at Jareth. She had wanted one perfect night with him and now that wasn’t going to happen. She’d have to settle for what she could get.

“I plan on holding you for a lot longer than that.”

“Jareth…..” She frowned, too tired to fight him anymore so she didn’t even finish her sentence.

“Hush, sweet. Turn over and put your head on my shoulder.” As she did so he pulled her back tightly against his body. Once his cape was securely wrapped around them, Jareth slid his right hand up her rib cage until he cupped her left breast. “Now sleep, and know I’m right here with you.”

“You’re not making this easy for me, you know.” She murmured as she covered his bare hand with hers. When he touched her like that, all she wanted to do was feel his skin next to hers. She doubted she’d get any sleep at all that night.

“I don’t intend to, my love, not in the least bit easy for you. You are mine and there is no going back now.” He was spared an argument because Sarah was sound asleep, despite her doubts.


	8. Learning Curve

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the second time that night Jareth was woken by Sarah moving restlessly in his arms and muttering his name. “You’re safe. I’ve got you,” he whispered as she turned and snuggled against him. “Go back to sleep, love.” This time he didn’t simply pull her closer, but caressed her cheek with his ungloved hand.

 

“You’ll be gone in the morning if I do.” She fought her way from the depths of sleep. In the fading light of the setting moon his face was blurred and indistinct through the thick lashes of her partially opened eyes. She sighed, relieved that if her dream had to be so intensely real, that it was one of the happier ones, instead of her usual nightmare where she’d find herself standing over his smashed and broken body in the remains of a crushed Escher Room. Or one of the new ones where was still trapped with her brother in a burning room.

 

“I’m not going anywhere, Sarah.” He kept stroking her cheek, and burying his fingers deep in her hair with each caress.

 

“You say that now, but you always do…always….” She breathed deeply of the scent of stardust and enchantment. As her lids became too heavy to remain open, she gave up the battle to stay happily suspended between waking and sleeping, in that magic place where dreams were so real she could reach out and touch them. 

 

“Oh my dear,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead. Jareth had known the last six years had been hard on her, but he hadn’t realized how difficult they’d been. Ellamora had reported that the girl hardly slept, now he was beginning to understand why. He remembered the pain he’d felt when he’d thought her dead. What would it have been like to feel that for years instead of the days he’d experienced? 

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah woke slowly, warm and content, in the fog-filled dawn. The first thing that met her gaze was the Goblin King’s sleeping face. Her breath caught in her throat and her stomach lurched. Was she dreaming or was he really alive and holding her close? With fingers that trembled, she skimmed the contours of his face and ran the pad of her thumb against his bowed upper lip. When he responded by nipping her playfully she blinked and jumped in surprise.

 

“You’re awake.” Sarah grinned and then laughed as relief flooded through her. “We’re both awake!” He was really there beside her. It wasn’t her imagination working overtime. Last night had really happened. “For a moment I thought I was still dreaming.”

 

“I surmised as much. Was I a happy vision or your incubus?” His left eyebrow rose in question. The thought of coming to her in her sleep as a demon lover made his eyes sparkle in anticipation.

 

“What makes you think I dreamt about you?” She looked at him under her lashes avoiding his question.

 

“You called to me during the night.” He was suddenly serious, a worried expression on his face. How often over the years had she cried out in her sleep for him only to receive no response? No wonder she’d believed him dead!

 

She had trouble meeting his eyes, and her chin jutted stubbornly. The night before she’d told him she loved him. This morning he was worried about her. She shouldn’t be shy about the fact that she dreamt about him. But she was. “I can be a restless sleeper. Toby didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was happy when Ellamora provided us with separate beds.”

 

“You needn’t worry that I shall be making the same request.” He rolled onto his side keeping her held tightly in the crook of his arm. “I told you once that I’d be there for you when your world fell down. It appears as if I’ve done a poor job of it so far, but no longer.” Many nights over the years he’d watched her in owl form, but once she’d fallen asleep, he had flown on, lonely and hurting. Never once had he guessed at the pain she was suffering. Her dreams could call to his if he was sleeping very soundly, but she had to be awake in order to break the spell that had been cast when she’d denied him years ago.

 

“I don’t want to talk about the past,” she sniffed as tears prickled in her eyes. 

 

“We must if there is going to be a future.”

 

“I realize that, but…” She shook her head as if to push all thoughts of long ago aside. “About last night, I remember hearing your voice and feeling you beside me, but it was real. I hope I didn’t waken you too often.”

 

“Once or twice, but it doesn’t signify. I received all the rest I needed.”

 

“That explains why your coloring is so much better. You’re all luminous and sparkly again.” She rubbed her finger against his cheek, amazed that no star dust transferred to her skin. “I didn’t realize it last night, but you were getting pale.” It hadn’t been the sickly death-white of the Escher Room from long ago, but he’d lost his glitter and shine. And the color, that looked like make-up, which was as much his trademark as his mismatched eyes, had faded as the afternoon had worn on.

 

“My skin tone is the outward sign of the magic. I can control what is seen if I choose. My power was never in doubt.” He watched her closely and knew that as much as she didn’t want to talk or think about the past, she was remembering their final confrontation when she was a teenager. “It wasn’t your fault six years ago, Sarah. I was tired and in need of a meal when your run was completed, but my inner strength was not as diminished as I led you to believe. It was my final cruelty toward you that I appeared before you as I did.”

 

“You were faking?” her voice cracked with hurt.

 

“No, though I was desperate to keep you with me. I merely let you see me without the sheen of power that I always wear. It is present naturally most of the time, but occasionally, it needs a bit of help.” He knew that it was one of the reasons she’d believed him dead. In his attempt to subtlety manipulate her, he’d pushed her further out of his reach.

 

“I wish I’d known,” she sighed. “It would have…” Sarah shook her head as she listened to her words. Six years ago she’d given up wishing. She’d only been back in the Underground for four weeks and the word was slipping off her tongue as casually as it had when she’d been a child. “It would have been nice to know that I caused you no harm.” She sighed as she realized no matter how hard it would be, the past had to be dealt with. “You’re right. We do need to talk about what happened or we’ll be forever tripping over it. But as you said last night, it is a conversation better saved for after we’ve eaten.”

 

“Ahhh, so my lady expects to be fed?” He grinned at her, glad to see she wasn’t allowing herself to brood.

 

“If it wouldn’t tax your powers too much,” though she meant to tease him, there was too much truth to the question for her to laugh about it. “Yesterday was exhausting for both of us. I worry about you, you know?” 

 

“I’ve noticed and I find it unexpectedly pleasing.” He smiled at her gently and kissed the tip of her nose, relieved that she harbored no grudge against him for his final deception. “Last night my odd coloring was real. I didn’t think about hiding it because I was with you. There was no trickery involved. It was mostly due to that white beastie out there.” He glared at Moonbeam who was placidly grazing in the tall grass beside Magic. “Not only didn’t I get any sleep the night before, but it required a goodly sum of power to keep him in line. Despite that, I am myself again this morning.” Jareth tipped her chin upward so he could examine her face. 

 

“Thank you.” Sarah was deeply moved. “You posses great magic, and can appear in any form you choose; to know that you’d willingly let me see you vulnerable means a lot.”

 

“I like to think it was what I was attempting when you were a child of fifteen, but I’m not sure my motives were that honest.” He remembered those last minutes with teenaged Sarah, but couldn’t clearly pin point what had been going through his mind. 

 

“It was such a muddle. We seemed to have been working at cross-purposes,” she murmured and snuggled closer, thrusting her left leg between his.

 

“Easy, my sweet,” he gasped as desire shot through him at her inadvertent caress. “When you move against me like that, first thing in the morning, it gives me ideas that will delay your breakfast, upset the animals, and keep us here much longer than we can afford to tarry.” He leaned into her until her abdomen fit snugly against his.

 

Sarah’s jaw dropped slightly and she could feel her face flush as she became aware of his predicament. Her naiveté was showing but she brazened it out by meeting his eyes. “Ahh…” She found she needed to clear her throat before she could speak. “Is it getting very late?” was all she could think to ask, with his distracting presence pressed against her.

 

“Oh, my dear, it is later than you think,” his voice was low and husky as he ran his nose against her cheek. “But as we discovered last night this is neither the time nor the place for us to have that discussion.” Jareth pulled back slightly to answer the question as she’d meant it. “The sun has just risen, but the valley will be fogged-in and in shadow until almost midday.” He caressed her cheek with slim white fingers and couldn’t look away. “I seem to have misplaced my gloves,” he murmured mesmerized and raised his right index finger to call them to him.

 

“I’ve got them. They’re in my pocket.” She remembered boldly working the supple leather from his hands the night before and wondered at her temerity. “I didn’t want them to get lost.” Her chin rose in defiance, daring him make fun of her gesture.

 

“I can make articles of clothing appear or disappear at will.” His voice lowered and his words slowed. “No one has ever done that to me before. I found it most erotic.” 

 

“Well…ah…good!” she nodded decisively as if she’d known all along he would find it pleasing, but the moment her hand began to slide between them to retrieve the gloves, she froze. Their position was too intimate and she was too inexperienced to be able to casually reach into a pocket that was caught between them. 

 

Her struggle was written plainly on her face. It filled his heart with love and made him groan with desire. “I’ve never found innocence an aphrodisiac, but with you, everything excites me. It would be best if I set you free before your hand goes any further,” his words were heavy with longing.

 

“I love you,” Sarah whispered. He was giving her space, time and the precious gift of the truth, as he sat them up and pulled back from her, loosening his cape that had kept them bound to one another.

 

“And I you, my sweet one.” He cupped her cheeks with bare hands and kissed her, but was careful to keep it light and gentle. “But I believe you would be more comfortable with intimacy if we get to know one another. Your world is not mine where there are casual relationships and arranged marriages.” 

 

“Jareth,” Sarah gripped his wrists to keep from burying her hands in his hair. “Please, when you touch me like that, it makes it very difficult.” 

 

“Then it would be best if you handed me back my gloves. As much as I’d like to have you put them on me, I fear that it would bring about the same result as when you removed them.” He raised his right hand once more and crooked his index finger, this time calling her missing hat to his hand. “Here I will trade this for my gloves.”

 

“That is a deal I can agree to, Goblin King.” She laughed and they exchanged apparel.

 

Once his gloves were securely in place he stood and bent to help her up. Sarah looked closely at their clasped hands in wonder. Her skin didn’t vibrate at his touch. “It really does make a difference. Or are you doing something different?”

 

“My magic is potent, but I control it. Wearing gloves helps mask its strength and power. If it had been anyone else with me last night, my hands would have remained covered.”

 

“You wear them when you make love?” The question popped out before Sarah could stop it. She had a comical mental picture of him naked, with the exception of his hands.

 

“Hardly,” he huffed as she fought to keep from laughing. “Nor when I have engaged in pleasures in the past. Making love is a special intimacy that I never indulged. I will definitely not be gloved when we allow ourselves that particular luxury.”

 

Suddenly there was nothing to laugh about any longer, as she thought of all the others he had been with. It made her eyes burn and her stomach feel hollow.

 

“Sarah, I’m not going to apologize for my past.” He tipped her chin upward until she was meeting his eyes again. “I am Fae. We are a hedonistic lot and I’m a male with strong desires. But that is all those liaisons ever were. You can call them many things, but love never entered into them. With you it is different. There is want like I’ve never felt before. You give me pleasure just letting me hold you while you sleep. When we come together it will be very different from anything I’ve ever experienced.”

 

“That helps some, but…well…I still don’t like it!” She frowned and clinched her fists. “I’m going to freshen up.” She stalked away toward the stream above, leaving a bemused Goblin King to check on the animals.

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah stared at her rippling reflection in the slow-moving water as her face dried in the breeze. The stream had been icy cold, but she’d cleaned up as best she could. Now she sat trying to get her mind to settle. Too many emotions were bubbling to the surface.

 

God, she loved Jareth, but she was panicky with fear and jealousy and was angry at herself for feeling that way. In the rare moments when she let her mind give in and accept that he loved her as much as she did him, she was hammered with guilt. It had taken her farther, Karen and likely a number of US Marshals dying to get her back to the Labyrinth and the male she loved. Now she was this emotional person who cried far too easily and tried to spout logic that made no sense. For the last six years she’d lived her life in perfect control. When she’d packed away her toys and costumes, she’d done away with dreams and make-believe. Looking back, she knew that she’d done what she needed to do to survive the terrible sorrow and guilt she carried because she believed she’d killed the Goblin King. Now it all seemed like such a waste. 

 

“I’ve already rebuilt myself twice in my life and am trying to do so a third time. If I let him in and things don’t work out, I don’t think I’ll have anything left to start over with. What am I to do?” she asked the woman looking back at her from the water.

 

When her mother Linda had packed up and left, Sarah’s world had crashed down upon her for the first time. She had gone from a happy, secure child to a young girl who was discontent with her home life and very unsure of her place in it. It had been almost a relief when her father married Karen. Her stepmother became a focal point for her anger and feelings of loss, without having to condemn her own mother.

 

The second time Sarah had had to start over had been after she’d returned from the Underground. That first night, she’d carefully made a pictorial record of everything that had happened. She’d filled every blank space of her Labyrinth book with her drawings and had even added a series of pictures on a separate piece of paper that she kept folded against the back cover. She’d been sure it had all been a dream and didn’t want to forget a single moment. But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, her memories became clearer, surer and more distinct. It had been no dream and she’d grieved for Jareth’s death at the same time that she was angry at him for making her decide between him and Toby.  
……………………………………………………………………..  
“Are they all right?” Sarah called to Jareth as she made her way down the rocky path from the stream. Moonbeam and Magic were foraging for breakfast in lush, tall grass. Curtains of gray mist swirled around them, leaving their shapes indistinct and muffling the occasional whinny or snort. Some time during the night thick fog had been sucked into the Valley of the Moon leaving it swathed in white. 

“I’m pleased with their progress this morning, considering their exertion yesterday.” He pulled a crystal from the air and used it to produce a cup of steaming hot tea and a scone for each of them. “Here, drink this.” He handed her one of the cups and a plate as he settled on a rock beside her. “I’d like to give the unicorn a bit more time to rest before he takes them back to Corramar. He’s still being extremely possessive, and won’t permit my assistance in the transport, but we need to be gone before the sun burns away the fog. It isn’t wise to stay longer than that.”

“It feels like we’re completely cut off, as if there isn’t another living being anywhere.” Sarah warmed her hands on her mug, enjoying the quiet and the press of Jareth’s shoulder against hers. “Is there danger?” 

“Not down here, but from above.” He pointed north, toward where he knew the highest peak stood, even though it was hidden beyond layers and layers of clouds. “That mountain is one of the oldest in the Underground. It is home to the few dragons who have lingered in these lands. Legend has it that they find horse flesh to be a particular delicacy.”

“Then we need to leave now!” Her worry for Magic far out-weighed her wonder at the idea of seeing a dragon. “What about Moonbeam, is he safe?”

“From direct attack, yes, the two species have been allies for eons, but I don’t know what would happen if he tried to defend his mate.” Jareth sipped his tea as he watched the sky. “It is said that in the time before Oberon, when both dragons and unicorns were a common sight throughout the land, dragons would ring the valley top during breeding season to watch over and protect the horned beasts when they were at their most vulnerable. It is not a legend I wish to put to the test, especially when one of the mated pair is a horse.” 

“‘There be dragons here’,” Sarah quoted. She’d seen the words written on more than one ancient map.

“You and your brother have been studying geography as well as history.” Jareth knew that was how this particular area had been marked by the official cartographer.

“Yes,” her voice broke, because it wasn’t just the map Toby had brought home from school one evening that caused a lump to form in her throat. “My father…ah…my father collected antique maps. That’s where I first saw those words.”

“The pain will lessen with time, my dear.”

“I know,” she could hardly get the words out. “The memory caught me off-guard this morning. With all that has happened in the last day or so, I had forgotten that they are dead…how they died. How could I do that?” She shuddered as she always did when she remembered the horror of the fire, and took deep, even breaths to drive away tears that were clogging her throat. 

“It’s only been four weeks. Allow yourself time to grieve. Allow the magic time to work.” Jareth wanted to hold her close and lock out even the slightest thought that might cause her pain, but he refrained because he knew that no matter how uncomfortable healing was, it was necessary. He settled for holding her hand so she would know he was there if she needed him.

“I know…it’s just...well, it’s hard,” her voice hitched and she knew that if she didn’t change the subject she’d end up crying. “I’ve got a question. It was something you said last night.”

“Ask me anything you like.” He’d wanted to finish the discussion they’d begun the night before and was pleased that Sarah cared enough to initiate it.

“You told me that me having power to wish Toby away may have been an example of my magic, might it simply be that since I was babysitting him I was his caretaker. Wouldn’t that give me the correct words.” She frowned trying to remember exactly how he’d phrased it.

“The magic of the Goblin Kings was set in place by Oberon. He put safeguards into the spell so a disgruntled sibling or nanny could not have the words. The only exception is if the child was in physical danger.”

“I would never hurt Toby.” Sarah declared.

“I know you wouldn’t.” He thought carefully was struck with a new thought. “It could be that the fates looked into the future and saw the destruction that was headed toward your family. They saw your win and gave you the words so I left a portal open to allowed your friends to visit you and your brother. It was an escape to the Underground when you needed it.”

“You make it sound as if we’re important to the Underground?”

“You are my chosen one as it was written in the ancient texts. ‘When the great maker looked down on his people he knew that their love of pleasure might hamper their ability to sustain their race, so he matched one for another; perfect pairings to be separated at birth and joined again later in life, never to be parted’,” Jareth quoted. “It was something I tried to deny for centuries.” 

“What about Toby? Is he destined to be here, too? Both times I’ve come here he has been involved.” Sarah gripped her hands unsure of what that meant for her brother. “He liked to sleep in my room because he had met my friends in the mirror, that was how I was able to get to him.”

“I believe that Maia, Galen and Marilee’s daughter, is his chosen one. The fight Toby was involved in two days ago is much like one that Galen participated in when a younger Marilee was being teased. Your brother would have known Maia if you had lost him to me. I had planned on adopting him as my heir.”

“Is that still your plan?” The enormity of what she was hearing left Sarah breathless.

“At the time you were not of age and legally incapable of being his guardian, but you are now. I would like our first child to be Heir Apparent to The Goblin Kingdom.”

“You have this all planned?” She shook her head as her stomach refused anymore to eat. “I need time to think. This whole this with Toby and Maia is almost as unbelievable as the The Goblin King falling in love with me.”

“Those were were your words, but they were already true before you said them.” He smiled in remembrance. “The children have time to work things out between them. Galen is in no hurry to have his very young daughter matched with anyone.” He pulled a crystal from the air. “But you and I are of age. There is nothing standing in our way. Do you recognize this?”

Sarah’s throat went dry as her eyes were drawn to the colors that swirled in the orb he held on his outstretched palm.

“I see you do.” He didn’t like how pale she’d become, but it was important she understood. If this was the only way, he would use it. “I offered it to you once before. It is your dreams.” 

“What would have happened if I’d taken it then? Would we have been spared all this heartache? Would Daddy, Karen, and the others still be alive?” She needed to know the answer, and had been avoiding the question for four weeks. 

“Even back then I knew you’d never take it. A woman who would accept such a bribe would never be fated to be Queen. It was my ego and bad temper that made me offer it.” He frowned at how foolish he’d been. “I’d known for half my life that my chosen one would be different. But to admit that would be to admit that my parents’ beliefs were correct. I was the heir-apparent to the Goblin Kingdom. In my mind I was in perfect control and lived my life accordingly. It was easier to believe that life held only pleasure and that love was a myth perpetuated by the ancients. I fought the idea even after I became king. Then almost two centuries later, you were born and I felt a change in the air. It pulled me to your world. The first time I watched you at play in the park, I knew fate was staring me in the face.” 

“It all seems so farfetched.” She wanted to deny what he said, but she knew that she’d loved him before she met him. It had been a childish version of love, but it was love. 

“Look closer and you’ll see the truth, as I did.” He held out the crystal and dared her to look into it. “It doesn’t only contain your dreams but mine as well.”

She gasped as the colors solidified within the magic sphere and she could see Jareth holding her passionately. His lips moved along her arched neck and her body pressed into his. In the background she could make out an ancestral crest which was dominated by the pattern in the medallion he always wore.

“Put it away, please, just put it away.” Her heart was pounding and she sipped her tea to try and gain some equilibrium. Jareth could see guilt written clearly on her face and immediately knew the source.

“Those dreams have lived in there for a very long time. Before you were born they were bright and distinct as they are now. When you were a child they were hazy but potent. The year after you won your brother back, they were nothing more than us dancing in the ballroom, but then they began to change. As you matured so did the nature of your dreams.”

“I know you think I was given powers all those years ago, to be able to wish Toby away, but that’s all the good they did me.” Sarah forced herself to remember the night she had been babysitting with her brother. “Think of the lives I could have saved if I had true magic.”

“You saved the ones you could: Toby and you.” He declared.

“I pose this to you,” she spoke with even, precise words. Trying to make herself believe them as she spoke. “Suppose I had never been pulled into the Labyrinth at such a young age and therefore no portal had been left in my mirror. Suppose I hadn’t given up believing in fairy tales and make-believe. Suppose on the night of the fire, I hurried home from college because I was worried about my family. Given those circumstances, caught in a blazing house with no escape, might I not think it the lesser of two evils to wish my brother away to the goblins, rather than let him die terribly in a fire?” 

“The how isn’t important.” Jareth picked up her tea and warmed it in his hands before giving it back to her. “What is important is that you and your brother are here safe in the Underground.”

“It wasn’t an accident, was it?” Her lips had turned white as she remembered her father’s easy acceptance of police protection, for his family, though he’d never believed anyone but he might be in danger. She remembered Sam Johnson asleep on the sofa when she came home, when Marshals never slept when on duty and gazing through her burning window and seeing Cora’s body laying in the street. 

Jareth took the cup from her shaking hand and placed it beside his on the ground. “I was distracted at the time, thinking you had died in the fire, and only did a cursory search of the premises, but I did pick up signs of foul play.” He didn’t tell her of how his anger had produced a spell that was destined to follow the perpetrators and hound their sleeping hours until they would long for the release of death.

“My father, Karen and at least one of their guards were already dead when I got home,” she whispered and tried not to tremble as she was filled with certain knowledge. “That’s why the house was totally silent as I stood on the landing listening for them. I’d tried phoning from my car, as I entered town, but there was no answer, not even on Daddy’s emergency number. When I was reading to Toby, I heard someone in the hall outside my old room. If I hadn’t come home they would have killed him, too.” She leaned into Jareth’s side seeking his strong, sure presence as she delved deeper into her memories of that night. “When I thought Toby and I were trapped, I wanted to call for you. I knew the words to wish us away. I hadn’t thought about them in years but they were clear in my mind. I was sure you were dead, the spell broken, so I said nothing. I prayed silently for you to give me strength. I wanted desperately to get back to the Labyrinth. The next thing I knew I was falling backwards to the very place I wanted to be.”

“Precisely. Destiny was restored whether by magic or the Fates I do not know I’m sorry, my love. I know it has caused you much pain these last weeks. We should have had this conversation that first morning at Corramar.” 

“No, you were right to wait. It’s hard enough to comprehend now. That first morning I was still in shock; too much had happened in too short a time.” She took a deep breath, needing to ask something that had been a source of constant pain, no matter how numb she’d been to anything else. “Were their lives the price for getting back here?” She looked into his mismatched eyes and prayed he’d tell her the truth. “Did I trade them for you?”

“No, my dear, it doesn’t work that way. A human can not trade a life for a life, or for a change in circumstance. No being that I know of can.” 

Tears of sorrow and relief ran down her face. She’d wasted four weeks shriveled up with guilt, pushing Jareth away when all he’d wanted was to help her. She’d piled excuse upon excuse to keep away from him, to try and rationalize away her guilt rather than face it. “Thank God, oh thank God,” she wept into her hands.

“My darling girl,” he whispered as he kissed her temple and pulled her close against him. In an attempt to shield her, he’d caused her pain again when it could have been prevented. He was beginning to wonder if he’d ever do anything right where she was concerned. “We are all ruled by destiny, even if we choose not to believe it.”

“You’re saying that there is nothing we can do to change fate?” Sarah had always believed that she had control over what happened to her. “I can’t accept that I should sit stoically by and let life happen around me. Though in this case, I am more than willing to believe it.” She clung to him, needing to feel his warmth against her.

“I believe that some things in our life are pre-ordained and some are not. The truly difficult part is knowing the difference.” Jareth slid his hand under Sarah’s long, dark hair and began to massage the tight muscles of her neck. “You and Toby were meant to live out your lives in the Underground. That I am sure of.”

“I believe you’re right.” She rested her forehead against his chest and moaned softly as knots of tension slowly dissolved under his careful ministrations. “Yesterday morning at about this time, I was finally falling asleep. I had resolved to never let myself get involved with you.” She looked up into mismatched eyes and spoke with her heart. “I knew I loved you. It’s silly when I think about it.” She shrugged at her contrary nature. “How much more involved can one be? Loving says it all. But I had decided that I’d never…ah…make love with you, because if I did, I would be lost when it fell apart. Now look at us. I have agreed to let you court me…or that we would be courting…or however you say it. Last night we almost became lovers and this morning you tell me we’re soulmates.” 

Jareth listened carefully and realized that she had finally given voice to her greatest fear about a relationship with him, her fear of losing him. That combined with the guilt she’d been carrying about her parents had been the driving force behind all her attempts to push him away. “Sarah,” he whispered her name, and cupped her face so she couldn’t look away. He would allow no misunderstanding this time. “I will love you forever. You are a part of me. I could no more leave you than I could my heart.”

“I will love you forever, Jareth.”

“We will have a long life together. Baring accidents, the average lifespan is at least three thousand years. Cotter Greene, he human, who runs the Four Corners Pub in Corramar village came from the Aboveground in my grandfather’s time, before the portals were closed on that side.”

“He doesn’t look or act a day over forty!”

“It is the magic and how it works.” He moved to her side and held her hand in one of his. “Why does it distress you so?”

“I don’t know.” Sarah frowned at a loss for words. “I think I’ve had too much information and too little sleep in the last twenty-four – twenty-six hours.” She stumbled over the difference in the length of a day and shook her head.

“Here, sit.” He guided her back to the rock where they’d been sitting before. “Drink the rest of your tea.” As he handed her the mug, he quickly added a warming spell to bring it back to an optimal temperature. “We must leave shortly and there are some things that need to be settled between us.”

“You sound very serious,” she sighed, unsure how many more surprises she could take in one day.

“I am.” He smiled at her and held her hand. “Here is my proposal.” He felt her jump and grinned as she tried to pull away. “For the time being I wish to court you. Though remember that I believe we were joined before we were born and therefore all that is missing is the legal technicality, which will allow our child to be heir to the throne of the Goblin Kingdom.”

“Our child?” she whispered. Her hand moved over her abdomen in wonder. As he said the words, she knew that she desperately wanted his baby. “Can we conceive and will they let him rule?”

“Most assuredly, they could not stop him or her.” He grinned at the possibility of a daughter. “Our child will be a product of the Underground, and Fae.” He covered her hand with his, content to feel her flat stomach and know that in the not to distant future it would grow round with his son or daughter. 

Sarah wrapped her arm around Jareth’s neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Magic you gain from the Labyrinth will be Fae so it won’t compete with mine; therefore, the babe will be Fae.”

“You seem so sure.” 

“I am. I know how magic and biology combine.” He held her tightly, reassuring her in the only way he knew how. “I also know politics. The worry you voiced last night is a minor one. I am the Goblin King and if I am not strong enough to marry the woman of my choice I am not strong enough to be a proper monarch. Only I rule the Goblin Territories. It is my birthright as it will be my child’s. The High Court may make suggestions and I use their services often in diplomatic venues, but they do not rule my kingdom, or my life.”

“When you say it that way, it makes perfect sense.” Sarah tried to smile and hoped he didn’t see her doubts and fears. She was filled with foreboding. When something was too good to be true, she’d learned it usually was. Though she was sure Jareth wouldn’t deceive her.

He looked quickly at the horse and the unicorn in the valley and checked the sky. They were still well hidden, but the light was changing as the sun rose above the mountains. He knew that the outer layers of fog were slowly burning away. 

“When we get back I’ll speak with mother so she can set up the formal dinner that will be the official beginning of our courtship and to Toby as the eldest male member of your household.”

“Wait,” she bristled. “I am of age, why do you need an underaged male’s permission. I make my own decisions.” Sarah believed in women’s rights. This was not going to be easy.

“Since courtship usually leads to marriage, it is the head of family’s responsibility to be sure his female relatives are provided for. I gather it is done differently Above?”

“In most cases women are not considered chattel Above.” She cringed when she remembered some of the things she’d learned that caused her to join political groups fighting to outlaw child brides. “Not all of us are the same, but most of us make our own decisions. There is an old custom of a man to asking the woman’s father for permission to marry her, but it goes in and out of vogue.”

 

“I see this has hit a sore spot with you.” He grinned at the fire in her eyes. “It is an ancient custom that is thought to protect both parties. In our case including Toby would satisfy tradition and legitimize the courtship. We shall make our own agreement and that will be what your brother will sign. Though I’d like to know the boy approved of the match, it isn’t like in times past. Galen will draw up the documents and we will decide what they include.” 

“Documents, there are documents involved?” She glared at him.

“They are only a form….”

“I know, I know,” she frowned. “They are only a formality. This is getting more and more involved.” 

“The contract is from an earlier time, but its use has survived over the ages. It states that the couple will be monogamous during the term of the agreement.” He suppressed a laugh when Sarah rolled her eyes and blushed. “The male has full financial responsibility of any issue. It declares that said issue will be acknowledged by him, though family inheritances and titles will not be passed on unless the child is born after they wed. Either party may add stipulations or assurances.”

“I just want to get to know you better,” Sarah laughed as her eyes filled with tears. “I love you but I really don’t know much about you.”

“That is what a courtship is for, to learn all the intimate details about the other being.” Jareth knew Sarah still had worries despite her willingness to go along with his plans. There was only one thing he could think of to offer her that might help reassure her. “It’s highly unusual, but would you like it stated that we shall refrain from making love until we are married? If anyone would bother to look, we will tell them it is a custom from the Aboveworld. Though despite what is stipulated, I doubt many would believe that we were not seeking pleasure in each other’s body.” 

“I have never been intimate with a man.” She whispered, knowing she was blushing. “How can you see my doubts and fears and still love me?” her voice was low with feeling. She knew once they made love there would be no turning back. She would belong to him utterly and that idea had the ability to take her breath away.

“It is because I love you that I can see them and they don’t matter.” He threaded his fingers through her hair on either side of her face and watched carefully for the slightest change in her expression. “I know that you are a courageous independent woman. You were six years ago and are now. You work hard and provide for your brother. There is no higher compliment in this land that suffers a lack of children than to say a man or woman is a good parent.”

“I’m touched at your offer, but it isn’t necessary, unless there is no way of preventing pregnancy during our…ah…courtship,” her voice shook with emotion. “I would prefer to let our physical relationship run its natural course.” Her hand moved to her belly, again, and as much as she longed for his child, she knew it would only add to her confusion.

“I will take care of the matter.” He assured her. “There is a simple spell, but I must use it each time. It would be wise since Human females new from Above are far more fertile, even once they obtain their powers and longevity.”

“Thank you, it makes it easier.” She stood on tip toes and kissed his cheek, suddenly certain that even if there had been no way in the Underground to prevent conception, she wouldn’t have wanted to rule out making love in the near future. 

“Just like that, you trust me completely?” They had cleared up much between them that morning. He understood her fears and what was making her cautious in her dealings with him.

“We may bump heads occasionally when my tendency toward independence runs counter to the Underground norm, but I will try to keep it out of the public eye.” She took a deep freeing breath enjoying the plans they’d made. “I don’t think you’d ever knowingly do anything to harm me, or go against my wishes.”

“But it is the unknown that can be terrifying. After all, I caused you great pain in the past. I like to think you feel the fear, but love me enough to take a chance,” he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her. 

Sarah didn’t answer him with words. Instead she ran the tip of her tongue against his lips where they covered hers. With a harsh moan he instantly granted her access. Their kiss became hungry as they clung to one another. He wedged one thigh between hers and pulled her body tighter, higher against his, until she straddled his leg, her feet off the ground. One of her hands grasped the deep V of his shirt as the other ran searchingly over the long muscles of his silk-covered back. Only need for breath caused them to pull back. Jareth gripped her tightly and watched with hooded, smoldering eyes as her body separated from his.

Sarah gasped at the sensations that were created as she slowly slid down his muscular thigh. “You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. If we had been foolish enough to decide on the stipulation you offered, I doubt we would have been able to abide by it for long.”

“If it had been your wish that we not become intimate in the immediate future, I would have abided by it.” His jaw was clenched and his fascinating eyes lit with a strange fire. “I would not have led you into temptation in an attempt to change your mind.” 

“I am learning that you are a much more honorable being than I ever realized,” she whispered and gently ran her hand over his cheek.

“You give me too much credit, I would have had to have had you measured for a chastity belt,” he teased and kissed her hand. “Give me your crystal. There is something I should have included in it when I first gave it to you.” When she handed it to him he murmured a spell and rolled it between his hands until he felt the changes in the magic sphere. “Now you can access me almost as easily as you can Toby. Touch the orb and say my name. It is your choice if I simply appear in the crystal, or if it brings you to my side.” With a flick of his wrist he rolled it into her cupped hands.

She was caught by surprise by how different the crystal felt. “It’s stronger, more powerful. My palm is tingling the way my skin does when you touch me with ungloved hands.” Her brows rose at the changes he’d wrought. 

“It now has the magic necessary to call upon a king.” Jareth shrugged and explained away the greater intensity of the crystal while he wrapped his hands securely around hers as she held the sphere in wonder. “It is yours and always will be. It can’t be used by anyone but you and it can never be taken away or taken back. The powers I have granted you belong to you alone.”

“I can’t take your magic, it is what you are. It defines you.”

“What I’ve given you is like a drop of water in an ocean of power. I will give you more when we marry. You will need it to help run the Goblin Kingdom.” 

“Thank you; your gift is very precious.” Sarah smiled. The enormity of what he’d given her was just setting in. There was no doubt in her mind that over the last few weeks he’d occasionally watched her in one of those crystals he could conjure so easily. In one neat move he’d put her on equal footing in that aspect of their relationship.

“Despite my desire to always be readily available to you, there will be times when my duties would make it imprudent. On those occasions, I will feel you touching the crystal as if you were touching my naked hand and I shall transport you to a nearby, safe place.” 

“In the last four weeks I’ve learned that there is much more to being King of the Goblins than I had been led to believe in the past. You are a real king, not some fairytale monarch who roams the countryside granting wishes and taking children.” She swallowed and forged on, not letting her mind dwell on that aspect of Jareth’s position. “It means a great deal that you’d give me such open access to your life.” 

“There is one other small warning included with the added magic to your crystal. You may want to look before you arrive at my side or you might find yourself joining me as I bathe.” He gave her an impish smile that was more invitation than warning.

“Your Highness, you could always block me from your bath as you would your diplomatic meetings.” She grinned teasingly at him.

“Oh no, my dear, I look forward to that particular arrival with great anticipation.” His eyes sparkled and he looked very much like the haughty Goblin King who had arrived in her parents’ bedroom six years ago.

Sarah discovered one other difference in her crystal when she put it where she always kept it. “What happened, it disappeared! But I can feel it resting lightly against my stomach.” Now her dress lay smoothly against her body instead of gaping slightly at the pocket.

Jareth shrugged and added casually. “I didn’t want it to ruin the lines of your gowns.” 

They walked hand-in-hand to where Moonbeam and Magic were grazing lazily in the fog. It was time to leave the Valley of the Moon and as much as Sarah wanted to get back and try and put her new knowledge into perspective, she had enjoyed the almost complete privacy they had had.

She rubbed the horse’s nose as Jareth spoke to the unicorn in that strange language only the two of them seemed to understand. Moments later Moonbeam bumped Magic’s shoulder and the animals vanished. Jareth stood completely still with his eyes closed, all of his energy focused outward. “They made it back,” he whispered as he opened his eyes and smiled at Sarah.

“Did he let you help him?” 

“No, but I sent a discrete spell to follow behind them in case intervention was needed. I believe if we were standing beside the unicorn right now, he would be snickering at me for my wasted efforts.”

“It put your mind at ease, so I would hardly call it wasted.”

“Come, it is our turn. Grab your hat.” He held out his hand and neatly turned her until she was facing him. “Hold on tight,” his whispered warning was the last thing Sarah heard before they were engulfed in a roaring wind.  
…………………………………………………  
When they metalized at Corramar, the sun was coming up over the paddock. “Did you reorder time?” She caught her foot on the uneven ground as Jareth slid his hand into hers.

“Only slightly. I’ve got you.” He whispered as they turned and he refused to let go. “Come we should check the animals before we head our separate ways. Is dinner at 5:30 too late for Tobias. I have duties that can not be put off.”

“That will be fine. He will enjoy it. My little brother’s dearest desire is to visit The Castle Beyond the Goblin City.”

“I only hope my humble home lives up to his expectations.” Jareth led the way to the stable where the animals were resting. “Let him know Galen will arrive about half-an-hour before to answer any questions he may have.”

“You’re back.” Livia Dowager Queen of the Goblins greeted the two new arrivals at Moonbeam’s stall. She grinned when she saw her son holding hands with Sarah. “Was it a fruitful trip?”

“We will know more in a matter of weeks.” Her son replied and turned to the woman at his side. “It would be wise if your brother knew your feelings on the matter. Until later, precious.” He bowed and kissed the knuckles of the hand he’d been holding.

“I look forward to it, Your Majesty.” Sarah laughed. She curtsied first to Jareth’s formal bow, and then to Livia as she handed back her hat. “Ma’am, I will see to Magic.”

“She looks none the worse her the night of pleasure.” Livia laughed. “Once your mind is at ease, go home and sleep. I do not expect to see you again until tomorrow.”


	9. Magic All Around

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toby’s distant laughter woke Sarah from a sound nap. She had slept dreamlessly after returning from Corramar that morning. It was one of the few times since being back in the Underground, that she knew exactly where she was and why she was there. It was a relief to waken and already be aware her father, Karen and Cora had died. Too often she opened her eyes unsure of her whereabouts and was suddenly swamped with the knowledge of their loss. Those mornings always started with a frantic search for her brother…But today was one of her better days.

After quickly dressing she studied her reflection in the small mirror over her dresser. She was pale from always wearing a sun hat, but her skin had a luminescent quality that appeared healthy. For the first time since entering the Underground she thought she looked almost normal. More herself and less a burned and grieving refugee.

“Maybe Jareth was right and all I needed to do was let the magic in and it would help take away my grief. I know how quickly Toby has healed.” She murmured as she reached for brush. The Human loved the way Ellamora’s herb shampoo made her hair look thicker and smoother. It brought out highlights she’d never realized where there.

“Tobe,” Sarah called from the loft window to her brother in the yard below. “The Dowager Queen gave me the day off lets go for a walk, just the two of us.” She waved at the elderly Elf who was teaching the young boy to hull an odd peapod-like vegetable that grew in her garden.

“I packed a picnic lunch for you and your brother.” She smiled at the small family she’d taken in. “You can have some sister-brother time.” Ellamora knew that Sarah needed to have an important conversation with him and it was best done alone.  
…  
As they walked through the woods, Toby told her about his day. He had fun with his friends and enjoyed his studies. Life was very different from what he was used to, but he found the Underground fascinating. He admitted that he and his buds weren’t looking forward to doing community service by assisting the Cleaners in the tunnels the next morning. But it was a fair punishment for a fight he and Mort had gotten into a few days earlier and it might just be exciting.

“Ahhh…Sarah, we’re almost to the Labyrinth. Kids aren’t allowed in there. King Jareth said so.” He looked around for the white owl that had swooped above them the last time the children had come close to the forbidden area.

“I know. We aren’t going in and you are with me. Though I appreciate that you are being careful. I’d have a hard time leaving you when I go to work if I had to worry.” Sarah ruffled his hair in affection. “I love you too much for something to happen and there are some really scary beings sneaking around that place. We lucked out and didn’t cross paths with them that first day.” 

In the old days, before the fire, the escape from their home, and the loss of his parents Toby would have rolled his eyes and complained that only babies and sissies talked about love, but something deep inside him had changed. “I love you too, Sar.” He squeezed her hand at her look of surprise that he was willing to mention feelings. “I shoulda told you move often, ya know, before.” He mumbled as his ears turned pink.

“It’s okay, Big Guy, you told me now.” Sarah led her brother around an unexpected bend in the path and they arrived at the small pond and waterfall that she loved.

“Gosh, this place looks enchanted.” Toby whispered in awe. He could feel magic drifting on the breeze and almost see it sparkle in the water.

“That’s because it probably is.” Sarah laughed. She couldn’t see and feel like her brother, yet, but she’d relaxed enough to let the powers around her soak into her being. “Sit with me and we’ll eat.” She pulled out some fruit, and cheese, for her and a sandwich for Toby from her woven shoulder bag. He put two small clay jugs of juice between them. “I have some things I need to talk to you about.”

“You gonna tell me more about your day with Magic and Moonbeam?” Toby loved hearing about the unicorn in particular. It made him feel as if he and his sister were living a fairytale. “Did ya see a dragon in that valley you went to?”

“I did not, thank you very much. It is said they like to eat horses.” She frowned at the possibility of her beloved Magic ending up as dragon breakfast. “Did Ellamora tell you about The Valley of The Moon?”

“Yeah, when you didn’t come home last night, she showed it to me on a map.” He munched on his sandwich and let his imagination carry him to that far away place. “She figured that must have been where Moonbeam took his wife when they disappeared. Elves believe that Valley is ancient and a source of great power.”

“I knew it was important to unicorns and from what Jareth said, I think, he believes as Ellamora does.” She smiled gently at her brother’s excitement. “Would you show me the map when we get home. The geography of this place confuses me.”

“Tell me about it.” He rolled his eyes. Since the Labyrinth changed at will, often other places did to. Outside the great maze the changes were subtle, but when you were new to the area it could make a simple walk to your friend’s house disconcerting.

“We’ll figure it out.” Sarah assured him as they both laughed. 

“Yeah.” He agreed.

“I brought you here to tell you about something that is happening tonight.” She took a deep breath, and did her best to keep excitement out of her voice. This needed to be Toby’s choice. “The King has invited you to dine with him this evening.”

“I get to see the Castle Beyond the Goblin City?” The boy grinned in delight. He remembered his only view of the magical building floating in the distance when Sarah and he had climbed out of the tunnels that first morning. The vision was mixed with an old dream from when he was very young that had been haunting him recently. A moment later he remembered his sister’s fears and warnings. “Wait, aren’t you coming too? You said when we first got here that I was never to go near the Castle or the Goblin City. I know you let me go to Maia’s house, but that isn’t exactly in the city and Lady Marilee is always there.”

“I still don’t want you going to any of those places without an adult, but my original fears were wrong. The Labyrinth book is misleading. His Highness doesn’t turn children into Goblins. I’m not sure if it is covered at school, but the the children he brings here are adopted by families who need and want a youngster to love.” 

“His Majesty told me mom and dad didn’t make it out of the fire.” Toby felt sorrow for the first time in weeks. It wasn’t a subject he and Sarah had talked about much. He hadn’t felt the need and his sister had looked so sad, he hadn’t wanted to upset her. “I don’t want to go back. It’s just the two of us and we do pretty good on our own here, even if things move around a bit.” He didn’t want to add that when he got older he would have magic, since he didn’t know if Sarah would have any and it would be mean to gloat.

“I want to stay too.” She smiled at her brother when he sighed in relief. “I need to check with Lord Galen about the procedure, but the King says I will be your guardian and we can become citizens of the Goblin Kingdom. It’s a good thing we both like it here. We don’t have a choice about staying.” Sarah suddenly realized she no longer felt trapped. “There are no doors open to the Above anymore.”

“Except the one for the withed-away children.” Toby finished her thought before she could voice the words.

“That’s right, Big Guy. We will have a good life in the Underground, which is one of the things Jareth wants to discuss with you. He wants…” She felt her face flush. “He wants to date me, though it’s called courting here.”

“Eww.” The boy made a disgusted face. The idea that his sister had a real boyfriend was icky.

“Eww,” Sarah laughed imitating Toby, crinkly face and all. “What is that all about? You knew I dated Mark who lived across the street a few times when I was home from college for the summer and holidays. You didn’t say ‘eww’ then.”

“That’s because you didn’t really like Mark. You didn’t look at him all moony-eyed. But I saw you the other day when you and the King were talking on Ellamora’s front yard. You were all moony-eyed and so was His Highness.”

“Toby?” She blinked in surprise. When had her little brother become so observant?

“So why don’t you guys just go out to dinner or something, instead of bringing me in on it?” He wasn’t sure what constituted a date in the Underground. He knew for sure there were no movies, pizza places, or video arcades. 

“You are the oldest male of my family. Jareth needs to ask your permission and there are documents for you to sign.” Sarah was fuzzy on the details and really hoped the papers didn’t go into the more intimate aspects they’d talked about. Her brother was still too young.

“That’s nuts.” The boy exclaimed. “You’re gonna be my guardian and I get to say who you can date? ‘Sides it just doesn’t sound like you. You never once let a boy tell you what to do.”

“You are right.” She thought for a moment for an answer that would make sense to both of them. “We do it because that’s the way it’s done.” Sarah shrugged and quoted from the Labyrinth book. It eased her feminist heart a tiny bit.

“Well, if that is the way it is done, then that is the way we must do it.” Toby gave the expected response. He could see it really was all right with his sister and that was what counted. 

Sarah turned serious. “I discussed it with Ellamora this morning and she says it dishonors both parties and calls the woman’s reputation into question if a courtship isn’t conducted properly. Lord Galen will transport you tonight and he will come early so he can go over the agreement with us.”

“Do you want to date the Goblin King?” Blue eyes just like his mom’s, met her green ones that she’d gotten from their dad. “Does he make you happy?”

“Yes,” Sarah nodded. “I think I love him, but I hardly know him and the customs are so different here. He’s a powerful Fae king and I’m just me.” She stopped and refused to listen to the doubts that could easily overtake her.

“Ellamora’s been teaching us so we fit in. All we gotta do is ask when things are confusing.” Her little brother grinned and brought out his ace card. “The Goblin King may have scads of power, but he still looks at you all moony-eyed, just like you look at him. That is the most important part.”

“How have you gotten so wise?” Sarah smiled at Toby, amazed at how mature he had become.

“Magic?” he shrugged, gave her an impish laugh and went on eating as if they were on a picnic in the park not far from the Williams’ home. He was secure in his love for his sister and hers for him. That was all that mattered to him, that and Sarah’s happiness. He could do this. The hazy memories he had of the Goblin King from years ago always made him feel safe. The man he’d met when they came to the Underground was a bit different, more serious and much busier but the boy trusted both the King from his memory and the one he knew now.   
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Sarah was having lunch with Toby, Jareth was working.

“Here is the contract you requested, Your Highness.” Galen entered his offices with two sheets of neatly scripted parchment. “I made the changes you requested so it will be appropriate for an eight-year-old boy to read but still specify what is needed.”

“Thank you. I’ll go over the agreement one more time after grievances. It is important to keep this afternoon’s meeting on schedule.” The Goblin King gathered the papers and put them aside as he finished his lunch. “Have two extra guards stationed in the waiting area. That should deter the petitioners natural urge to argue prior to their turn. If there are any problems all parties involved will be removed from the hall and required to make a new appointment.” He had used that method before, when his schedule was tight. It kept a few of his more rambunctious subjects from turning a simple hearing of grievances into a brawl. 

“Yes, Your Highness,” As much as he found the next subject distasteful the aide knew it needed to be discussed. “Ahh, Sir…”

“Is there a problem that requires my immediate attention?”

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there has been talk.” Lord Galen was not comfortable with what he had learned.

“I surmised as much from my mother’s grin when we returned to Corramar this morning, though it seemed to please her. What am I missing?”

“They say you were holding her hand upon arrival.” Galen replied. 

Jareth snorted. “I had just transported us from The Valley of the Moon, after an extremely trying twenty-six hours. Would it have been better if I still had my arms around her for ease of travel?” The Goblin King had carefully kept them invisible until he adjusted his hold on the woman he cared about. Then determinedly refused to let go of her hand as they walked to the stable.

“No, but add that to our entrance at Ellamora’s the evening-before-last and it increased speculation. Sarah was wearing your coat and you would not allow her to curtsy to Lord and Lady Dennimar.” Galen pointed out. “The Dennimars haven’t said a word publicly, but I surmise they have discussed it between themselves and did not use a discretion spell. One of their stewards was speaking of the matter at the Four-Corners Pub. It was while you were away and it increased speculation of why and where you had taken the Human girl.”

“Why can’t people simply mind their own affairs?” It was hardly the first time Jareth had been the subject of gossip, but it was the first time he’d cared. 

“’Affairs’?” his aide prodded. “That is possibly not the best word to use, Sir.” 

“If any of those gossips had ever spent the night in the vicinity of a newly mated unicorn and his Chosen One, they would realize how absurd that accusation is. We were exceedingly well chaperoned. It was damn frustrating.”

“I am sure it was, Your Majesty.” Galen fought the grin on his face and finally gave up. 

The king glared but was willing to take casual ribbing from his friend. “As soon as Tobias and I sign the Courtship documents, I would like you to post them. The magic of my signature mixed with his will secure the contracts, and bind Sarah and me to what is agreed upon. That should calm the waters once everyone knows our intentions are serious. It will protect Sarah’s reputation and by relationship the boy’s.” 

“Very good.” Galen nodded in agreement. If what he’d surmised the day-before was fact, Toby Williams would end up his son-in-law sometime in the future. He would do everything in his power to keep the Humans safe.

“Any rumblings from the High Court?” Jareth leaned back in his chair to strategize.

“No, Sir, but once they realize this is serious and not simply a dalliance on your part that could change.” Galen contemplated the members of the Court and their possible reactions. “I suggest that as soon as the Courtship is posted the next order of business would be obtaining citizenship for our newest residences, Sarah in particular. Then they will have all the privileges, rights, and responsibilities of any member of the Goblin Kingdom and all the territories you command.”

“My thoughts exactly.” The King nodded in agreement. “It would be wise to begin work on guardianship papers for Tobias, as well. I would rather the boy be hers legally before our relationship moves beyond courtship. Upon marriage guardianship would be shared by me, but not cloud the line of succession.”

Jareth thought for a moment and added. “I had thought to adopt him when they were here last. I mentioned it to Sarah this morning but not the whole of it. I had reasoned that if I had an heir the High Court would leave me alone and I wouldn’t have to deal with these…feelings...by the Seven Crystals I was a Fae King and I loved a bratty Human girl it was indecent to desire.” He shook his head at some of his prior actions. “I reasoned that keeping him and sending her home would wipe Sarah’s memory and I would be free.”

Galen was glad that had not transpired. “She may not have remembered, but you would not have been so lucky, Sir. Life is simpler for those of our people who refuse to believe in the old ways, but it is not as fulfilling.” Galen knew from experience. He’d had strong irrational feelings of love for Marilee from that first day he’d protected the young halfling in the stables. It had been easy to arrogantly blamed her Elf heritage for making him feel things no self-respecting Fae would. He’d been a young fool.

“There were so many ways fate might have intervened and one or both of the Williams siblings could have been lost to the Underground and those who are important to them.” The Goblin King stared into a crystal in an attempt to see the different paths all of them could have taken. “All I see is what has transpired.” He sighed. 

“Sarah Williams was not the usual runner. She is the Chosen One of an extremely powerful Fae Lord. I believe that makes her unique and changes all the rules. One must remember, that what is said is said and what is done is done and not worry about the rest.” Jareth’s aide smiled gently and added, “I am happy for you, Sir. You waited a long time and it wasn’t easy. I wish you the best. To have a woman by your side who truly loves you and who you truly love is an amazing thing.” 

“Thank you.” Jareth stood to get his jacket. He had grievances to officiate in fifteen minutes. “When the papers are signed, please notify my mother. She has offered,” he laughed at the wording. “She has demanded to hold the traditional dinner party. She wishes to to show her support. The Dowager Queen may appear to be a matronly Fae who has retired to her Manor home in the country, but she is as politically astute as when she ruled beside my father.” He remembered courtiers and diplomats casually misreading her in the past. It had been to their peril. “She has taken quite a liking to Sarah.”

“Respectfully speaking, Your Highness,” Galen’s voice shook with laughter. “You have waited so long to take a woman seriously, I believe Her Royal Highness the Dowager Queen would approve any female that you looked at as more than a bit of fluff.”

“Humph.” Jareth vanished from the room and his aid quickly followed. They had an afternoon of business to conduct. 

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Galen and Toby arrived at the Castle Beyond the Goblin City at exactly five-twenty-five. They had spent half-an-hour going over the required papers. The King’s Aide knew it was extremely irregular for the female member of a courtship agreement to be present for any of the legal aspects. But since the only male family she had was an eight-year-old boy, unsure of the ways in the Underground, it had been necessary.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah stood on Ellamora’s large front porch and watched Lord Galen disappear with her brother in his arms.

“What’s the matter, dearie?” The Elf pulled her shawl around her shoulders and joined the young Human girl. “Was there something in the document that bothered you.”

“I don’t like that he will be providing all my ‘clothes and other items, as necessary’. That clause caught me by surprise.” She frowned, unhappily. “In the Aboveground it isn’t considered proper and I feel that I am taking advantage of him.”

“You are not, my dear. You’re simply suffering from a difference of the way things are done.” Ellamora put her arm around the girl. “Remember you will not be able to spend your entire courtship in the stables at Corramar. If you are to really to get to know the King, you must join him at social functions. That will require a more extensive wardrobe than you currently possess. It is unfortunately true that clothes can make or break a being’s entrance into society.”

“Oh Lord, can I back out now?” Sarah gasped.

“Do you really want to?” The old Elf looked deep into troubled green eyes.

“No, no I do not.” The girl spoke emphatically. “But I don’t want to let him down. I think I love him,” she whispered.

“Courtship is about changing the ‘I think’ to ‘I know’.” She stopped and shrugged. “In one way or the other. I doubt sincerely that anything you could do would ‘let him down’.”

“He thinks I am his Chosen One.” Sarah whispered.

“I believe you are, as well.” Ellamora patted her gently. “About the clothes and things necessary, I suggest you speak with His Highness about your misgivings. I know from my courting days and Marilee’s that a Fae male in the first bloom of courtship tends to want to shower his beloved with gifts. If the King knows you are uneasy it may help to check his natural tendencies.”

“Thank you so much.”

“You are very welcome, dear. Now let’s eat. Because I think you will have company this evening when His Highness brings your brother home.”

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toby had dressed appropriately for a meeting with the the Goblin King. He was wearing long pants, a finely woven shirt and vest under a leather jacket.

“You can open your eyes.” Galen stated as he set the boy on his feet. “Though we must not terry. It is rude to keep a king waiting. I shall arrange a tour at a later date if you wish.” 

“It’s not anything like I rem-like I thought it would be.” They entered the castle through great doors with tall Goblins in full military uniform standing at attention on either side of the entrance. Lord Galen nodded at the soldiers, but they stayed at attention each with one hand on a sword in a black leather sheath. 

Toby began to doubt his memories, as their boots clacked over clean marble floors. The walls on either side of the wide hall were lined with large pictures that looked like they belonged in a museum. One of them was of King Jareth standing beside Moonbeam. It was life sized and dominated the open, high-ceiling entrance. Maybe he had only dreamed being here as a baby, because Sarah had read him the Labyrinth book so many times.

More guards were stationed outside the throne room as they entered. The Goblin King was dressed in black breaches with soft dark leather knee-high boots. A cream-colored silk shirt cut low to allowed his crest of power to be easily seen. Over it all he wore a slim fitting a black velvet coat.

“His Royal Highness Jareth, King of the Goblins, Emperor of the Labyrinth and the Western Territories.” Galen announced. “May I present Tobias Connor Williams.”

Toby bowed from the waist as Ellamora had taught him.

“You may raise,” Jareth grinned at the child. “I see you are learning our ways.” He nodded toward the boy and then looked to his aide. “Lord Galen you are dismissed. I’ll let you know when our business is concluded.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Fae bowed to His Majesty and left the room.

“Shall we dine, young Tobias?” The King stepped down from the raised throne and offered his hand to the child.

All Toby could do was shake his head in agreement. Jareth’s throne was shaped like he remembered. It was the same color and the Goblin King sat as he remembered, though the Fae didn’t lounge casually as he’d done once or twice in Toby’s memories. Oddest of all was the lack of small goblins chasing chickens and other animals. The room was large and airy and smelled fresh and clean. 

What he had seen of the castle so far added to the feeling of quiet power the King radiated. The twists and turns to the dining room accented how different Jareth’s castle was from the one in the boy’s memories. There were paintings and tapestries on the walls and complicated crystal lamps with flickering candlelight hanging from high ceilings and sconces. 

“I chose my private dining room for tonight, despite the fact we have business to discuss.” The Goblin King led Toby into a large bright room with plants at five long windows. Two guards had followed them and took up stations at the outer doors. There was a huge fireplace but it was early summer, no fire was necessary. “The formal dining area seats two-hundred and is drafty no matter the time of the year.”

“That’s your mom, the Dowager Queen.” The youngster pointed to the life-sized picture above the mantle of the fireplace.

“And the man with her is my father.” He smiled proudly. “They were good rulers and good parents.”

“He looks like you except for his eyes.” Toby looked over his shoulder for a last look as the guards as they closed the door.

“You needn’t worry about the soldiers. A ruler who doesn’t take proper precautions usually finds his rule comes to a premature end.” The King warned and then added in a whisper in Toby’s ear. “The real power in this realm is my magic. But it would be remiss of me to advertise that fact, thus the Royal Guardsmen. Given why you are here tonight it is important that you understand matters of security.”

“Yes, Sir.” Toby had seen the soldiers riding with the King and on practice maneuvers about the countryside. The Goblin Army and the Royal Guardsmen in particular were very well trained. 

“Your Highness, do you wish to eat now or later?” A tall female Goblin in a black uniform stood inside a door that led to the kitchen.

“Now, Isobeth.” While Jareth was speaking to the server, Toby peeked at his place setting. He’d heard stories about all sorts of forks, spoons, and special eating utensils when he’d lived with his parents. Much to his relief, everything looked normal except for a smaller fork beside his usual one. He knew from when Sarah had taken him out to dinner at a fancy restaurant that it was for his salad.

Isobeth brought in a tray that had two salads and two plates with chicken, potatoes, and an unusual vegetable that Toby hadn’t seen before. The server placed the King’s plates on the table first. Her assistant put other dishes on the table so the diners could have more food when wanted.

“Thank you.” Jareth sat at the head of the table, while the two females curtsied and left the room. Toby was to his right as guest of honor. “I hope chicken is to your liking.” 

“It’s one of my favorites. Ellamora likes venison, but I feel like I’m eating Bambi.”

“I am familiar with that Aboveground tale.” The King nodded in understanding. “That would mean rabbit is Thumper. I understand why Sarah eats only vegetables, nuts, and fruits.”

The boy laughed while he cut his chicken. “No, ah…ah…Sir, that isn’t it. She says down here she is never sure if what she is eating has a family and can carry on conversations with people. Though I never remember her eating meat. Dad said she stopped when she was fifteen.”

“Ah I see.” Jareth smiled, cognizant of a great deal more than the boy. Sarah had been fifteen when she was in the Labyrinth the first time. “Your sister has explained the significance of our dinner tonight and Lord Galen went over the documents with you. Are there any questions you would like to ask or stipulations that need negotiating? It is well within your rights.”

“I know it is done differently here, but I’m her kid brother, if she wants to date someone, that should be her choice.” Toby was filled with doubts. When he remembered the laughing king who sang and danced with him as a young child, he knew that man would never hurt Sarah, but everything was different. “What if I decide wrong?”

“No one can guarantee another’s happiness, but I believe your sister is my Chosen One and she is mine. That means the great Creator chose us to be together. It isn’t a belief that many Fae hold anymore. My parents believed it. Lord Galen and Lady Marilee do too, though By the Seven Crystals, Galen fought it for years. I would never harm you sister on purpose.”

“Sarah’s been sad for a long time, I mean like years. I thought I knew why she was unhappy but now I don’t know.” The boy looked into the king’s mismatched eyes with doubt. “She told me this afternoon that she loves you and wants to date…court you. Give me the papers and I’ll sign ‘em. Cause that’s what she wants.” He folded his arms distressed at the responsibility he felt.

“That isn’t the way it works here.” Jareth was surprised by the unexpected rebellion from the boy. The few interactions they’d had were all positive. Manipulating an eight-year-old child would be a mistake, so he needed to tread carefully. “As the eldest male, in fact only male, in your sister’s family you have a duty to her. Were there problems with the papers when you went over them with Lord Galen? Am I being unfair to Sarah in some way?”

“You’re gonna think I’m nuts.” Toby put down his silverware, rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

“I doubt that sincerely. You are new to the Underground, so it is possible there are things that are misunderstood, but that is the least of it. I love your sister, but she would not be with me if it made you unhappy.” The King took a sip of wine and watched the boy fidget. “Tell me what is bothering you and between us we can figure it out. Let’s adjourn to my office. We are assured privacy there.” He rang a bell and notified the staff of the change of plan before guiding Toby to the office behind the throne room.

Once they entered his office, Jareth pulled a crystal from the air, spun it and then dropped it sending glitter to the walls, ceiling and floor. “That is a soundproofing spell. You can tell or ask me anything and there is no danger of anyone overhearing.”

“Wow.” Toby was frozen for a moment at the display of magic. “I see what you meant earlier about power…” his voiced trailed off.

“That spell is more about discretion than anything else.” The Goblin King pointed to two comfortable chairs by the fireplace. “Let’s sit and you can tell me what is bothering you.”

Toby slid into the deep wine-colored wing-backed chair beside the king. “Okay, before I tell you this, you’ve got to understand Sarah has been reading me the Labyrinth book all my life. We both like fairytales but that was always our favorite.” The boy shook his head confused and wanting only the best for his sister. “I’ve got this memory that I was sure was a dream. I mean it had to be, but it seemed so real sometimes, I just don’t know.”

“Continue,” The Goblin King urged, sure he knew what was coming.

Toby was so relieved he could finally talk to someone about this, the words poured out. “In the dream, or memory, or whatever, I’m a little kid…hardly walking. Sarah wishes me away to the Goblins. Since we live here, I hear how people talk about wishers-away. They are mean terrible people. Sar isn’t like that. Then there is your castle. It is so different from my memories. I came here expecting to see it kinda grimy…sorry…but that’s how it was in my head. I was feeling sorry for my sister if you guys ended up together because she’d have to live with chickens squealing, animals everywhere, and scuzzy little Goblins running around, but if you guys loved each other, I guess, it wouldn’t matter.” He shrugged knowing nothing about love.

Jareth pulled a crystal from the air. The moment he touched the fragile curved ball a glass of juice appeared in his gloved hand. “Drink this. I transported it from the kitchen. Magicked food lacks flavor. You’ll feel better.”

“Is this stuff enchanted?” The boy smelled peaches and it put him on his guard. “Cause I don’t want to end up in a dream. That’s what started all my problems in the first place.”

“You really have read Labyrinth too many times.” Jareth laughed and took a sip from Toby’s glass. “There, I am your official taster. See, nothing happened.”

“Okay, thanks.” The boy took a huge swallow and went on with his story. “I really liked the Goblin King from my dream and I feel like I’ve known him for years. Not that you aren’t a nice guy. I mean you’ve got a unicorn and all, but I don’t know you. The guy in my dream sang and danced. He even tossed me in the air to make me laugh. He made me feel safe. I figured if somehow Sarah did wish me away, that was the reason she’s been so sad all these years. She missed you and the Underground and her friends, though they visited through the mirror, which only confuses me more. That night I met you at your mom’s house and you took me to the stable to greet Moonbeam, there was something about your voice. It took me weeks to figure it out, but it was almost familiar.” The boy leaned back in his chair amazed the blonde Fae wasn’t laughing at a little kid’s silly dream. “So, am I crazy or what?”

“Come with me. I’d like to show you something.” Jareth stood and led Toby out of his office, through the throne room and up some stairs in the hall. They walked past a large tapestry of the Labyrinth and the King opened a heavy door. After he closed it, he cast a second soundproofing spell. “We may speak freely, again.”

Toby looked around the Escher room, a vague memory of crawling up the stairs as the King sang. “It is you.” He gasped and hugged Jareth around the waist in relief. “But why is everything so different?”

“The Labyrinth, Goblin City, and my Castle become what each wisher-away imagines them to be. Things change as they are needed.” Jareth led him to steps and they sat where they could look out over the whole fascinating room. “That is one of the reasons school closes and children are kept home if someone is in the Labyrinth. The oddest things can shift. Your sister didn’t have a high opinion of my life style.” He frowned at the mess his castle had been. “But she initiated some amazing things. A good example would be the friendships she made here. Those three are bound as tightly together as they are to Sarah. I believe she had magic even then, because under normal circumstances Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus have extremely diverse personalities. They should have argued, even fought. Her magic is also how she was able to wish you away. A disgruntled sibling, friend, or nanny will never have the words or power to be heard. Do not be angry with her. She has suffered great anguish at the thought you might find out.” 

“I’m glad she has powers and I hope they increase.” Toby found that especially exciting. 

“I will assist her and teach her to channel her strengths to make the most of her abilities.” The King drew a crystal from the air and rolled it over his hands. “Control is the secret.” Then the magic ball was gone and the Fae and the Human boy sat side-by-side on one of the stairways of the puzzle room.

“You don’t have to worry that I’m mad at her, cause I’m not.” Toby assured Jareth. “She did your Labyrinth to get me back. I have great memories about the time I was here, though I didn’t know they were real. I think she believed she killed you, that’s why she stopped calling her friends and gave-up believing.” The young boy finally understood the root of his sister’s sorrow. “That’s why she’s been so sad for so long.”

“I know, she told me.” Jareth tilted his head and explained further. “I clarified it was only the illusion that she had created that disappeared, which is normal.” 

“I think Sarah was meant to wish me away.” Toby sighed. “If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have met you and there wouldn’t have been a portal open to the Underground the night we needed it so badly.” He was very glad his last memory of his Aboveground home was of Sarah reading to him instead of the fire and flames his sister sometimes saw in her nightmares. “We would be dead, otherwise.”

“It would be prudent if you did not talk about what happened six years ago. Hopefully, you will never encounter a wisher-away, but if you do, you will understand why they are not liked or trusted. I do not want people to think poorly of Sarah.” He thought for a moment before adding. “At some point in the near future you should tell her that you know what happened, or I will tell her for you, if you like. She worries you might discover it and be hurt or angry. It would be one less thing in her way to happiness.”

“You really are the guy that I remembered and you love my sister. How cool is that.” Seeing Jareth in this amazing room that he only had dull memories of, made everything that was happening very real. “I’ll sign the papers and be happy about it.”

“Before we do, you need to understand that during the time you were here, my actions were also a creation of your sister’s mind.” Jareth continued knowing it was necessary for the child’s peace of mind. “That day I played a part as I do anytime a runner is in the Labyrinth, but I knew Sarah was different. I knew she was my Chosen One. I had known it for decades before she was born. But I still fought it. When she was here last, I used the excuse that she was far too young for me to keep, so it was a good thing she won.”

“Do ya sing?” The boy asked.

“In the tub, on occasions.” Jareth’s expression was all haughty Goblin King. “I do love to dance, especially when I have my arms around your sister.” He teased, well aware of what an eight-year-old boy of any species thought of romance.

“Eww.” Toby growled. “Enough, I’m starved and we have papers to sign.

The King picked up the boy and transported them to his private dining room. They had food waiting and work to do. Then it would be necessary for him to take Tobias home. With luck Jareth hoped he could get a kiss or two from the boy’s sister.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was exactly eight-thirty when the Goblin King appeared at Ellamora’s front gate with Toby.

“We made it.” The boy had worried they would be on times, since after dinner and document signing, Jareth had taken him back to the puzzle room and they walked the gravity defying stairs and landings. “Thank you for the fun evening.”

“You’re welcome.” Jareth smiled at the him. When he placed him in the ground two sheets of parchment marked with the King of the Goblin’s seal and an eight-year-old’s signature martialized. “This is your copy of the courtship contract.”

“Ahh what do I do with it?” Toby asked in earnest.

“I am sure Ellamora has a place to store papers, and the contract is protected by magic.” The Fae assured the young man.

“Sir,” Toby spoke in a hushed voice. “Would you tell Sarah for me, you know, what I told you tonight. You can use one of your spells so no one hears.” He was careful to initiate the conversation while they were still on the road. 

“I would be honored, young Tobias, but I must warn you, it is very likely that you will be the recipient of a number of sisterly hugs and possibly some tears, but I shall attempt to deal with them before Sarah leaves my company.” Jareth opened the gate and led them through. 

“I don’t mind the hugs.” The boy grinned. “I just want her to be happy.”

“Toby,” Sarah called as she walked out on the front porch. “I thought I heard….” She froze the moment she saw Jareth. She knew he would bring her brother home but suddenly he was very real and handsome. “Your Highness,” she smiled and gave small curtsey. “Did you two have a good evening?”

“We sure did.” Tob answered as Jareth reached for Sarah’s hand to bring her to his side. “He’s got this great puzzle room, with steps and weird gravity. We climbed all over it after we’d eaten and got things signed.”

“The Escher Room?” Her eyes filled with worry.

“Yeah, it was kinda like that poster you had in your room. It was so much fun.” Toby saw the fear in his sister’s face and threw his arms around her. “I love you Sarah.”

“Oh Tob,” She knelt and let him squeeze her all he wanted. “I’m so glad you had fun.”

“I think His Highness would like to take you for a walk,” the boy whispered in her ear. “I gotta go to bed cause Sir Didymus will be here at seven-thirty so we can meet with the cleaners at eight.”

“Your Majesty,” Ellamora joined them at the door with a curtsy.

“Mistress Ellamora,” the king nodded his head at his mother’s beloved servant.

“You go on girl.” The Elf looked at Sarah with happiness. “You will only have one first night of courtship. I will be sure this young scallywag brushes his teeth and washes his face.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first of the new chapters. 
> 
> Enjoy


	10. Changes

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Ellamora tucked him in, Toby snuck to the window on his sister’s side of the loft. Due to the perfect darkness of nights in the Underground and branches of a large tree, the boy could only see bits and pieces of what was happening in the front yard. He rested his chin on his hands and concentrated on listening instead of watching. He was rewarded by hushed voices highlighted with an occasional laugh, and the familiar cadence of the old two-person wooden rocker-swing under the tree.

His attention was caught when a spot toward the ground lit with a shower of familiar glitter. Once the shimmer of the spell was gone, the only things heard below were normal nighttime noises in the bushes and garden. Either the King had taken Sarah somewhere or he’d blocked their voices. “Thanks Goblin King,” Toby whispered in relief and slipped into bed. He had a busy morning tomorrow.

“What was that?” Sarah looked around as they were surrounded by tiny sparkles that slowly disappeared. “Did you do something to the crickets in the bushes? They went silent for a moment after you tossed that crystal, but now I can hear them again.”

“They aren’t crickets. They are Pixies.” Jareth frowned in distaste. “I cast a spell to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on our conversation, but I have no wish to be caught unawares. You could scream and no one would hear, but if your brother sneezed, in his bed, we would know.” He kissed her temple.

“Ohhh…” Sarah grinned devilishly and dragged her fingernails lightly over his exposed skin at the opening in his shirt. “Are you going to do something to make me scream?”

“E-ven-tu-ally,” Jareth slowly drew out the whispered word, enjoying the tiny moan that escaped her lips. “The present spell only precludes sound from escaping. We are in full view of any who choose to look.” He reached for her wandering hand and kissed her knuckles. “I need to speak with you.” 

“Is something wrong?” Bliss that had been sizzling across Sarah’s nerve endings died. “Have you changed your mind?”

“Definitely not, My Sweet. You need to know about something from six years ago and I’d rather discuss it in private.” His glove-covered thumb moved against the delicate shell of her right ear. “Toby remembers being here. When he lived Above, he thought it only a dream, but since returning, his memories have clarified.”

“Oh no,” she gasped and wrapped her arms around her middle to quell the feeling of her world falling apart.

“There is noting to be distressed about, Precious.” Jareth pulled her up on his lap to hold her as close as possible. “The child retains only positive memories. He bears you no malice.” The Goblin King went on to explain the conversation he’d had with her brother earlier in the evening.

“He doesn’t think I betrayed him by wishing him away?” Sarah tripped over words. The urge to cry tightening her throat muscles. “He isn’t angry?”

“No, he loves you and believes, as I do, that you were both destined to be here. As he so succinctly put it, if you hadn’t wished him away, both of you would likely have died in that fire. He most certainly would have, because he would not have been sleeping in your room thus you would not have been able to get to him. You forget, Precious, I witnessed the remains of where you once lived.” The Goblin King felt her crying silently against his neck. “I promised young Tobias that I would deal with any tears that might be shed, but he should be prepared to handle his sister’s reassuring hugs on his own.” 

“Only you,” She sniffed, as a tiny giggle cut through her sorrow. “Only you could make me laugh and cry at the same time.”

“I told you once I would turn the world for you, My Sweet.” His lips moved over her cheeks, drying her tears. Moments later his hands tightened around her as he finally covered her mouth with his and kissed her the way he’d wanted to since they left the Valley of the Moon that morning.

Sarah’s tongue met his and he made her shiver in delight. She thought she just might scream after all, but in frustration. “This feels so much more intense than before.” She gulped in air, her head limp on his shoulder.

Jareth kissed his way down her neck and into the hollow of her throat, before he finally pulled back. “Because we are more intense. Intentions have been stated and agreed upon. Courtship papers have been signed. Our magic is set free.” He shrugged elegantly. 

“It’s a damn aphrodisiac,” she mumbled as she kissed him again.

“One could call it that.” He growled against her neck, making her shiver in delight. 

As much as he enjoyed tasting her skin, the Goblin King had a few other pieces of business to take care of first. He pulled an item from his inner jacket. “This is for you.” A finely wrought silver chain rested in his hand. It contained a tiny crystal pendent.

Sarah was reminded of her conversation with Ellamora. “It’s exquisite, but…”

“It is not a simple decorative bauble. The necklace contains an extremely powerful protection spell. After wearing it against your skin for a few hours, the power in the pendent will become part of you forever. I have one for Tobias as well.” He pulled a leather cord with a small crystal out of the other pocket of his vest. It looked masculine, yet small enough for a boy to wear. “I need to know that both of you are safe even when I am not in the vicinity. My mother still has the one my father gave her. He has been gone for over two-hundred years, but his magic still dwells within her.”

“It means a great deal to me that you thought of both of us.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Of course, I will take it and Toby’s too. Would you help me with the clasp?”

“Turn around.” He requested and kissed the back of her neck before fastening the chain. “When you wake in the morning, the spell will be part of you. The same is true of your brother’s.”

His lips moving over the back of her neck short circuited Sarah’s thoughts. It took her a moment to remember what she wanted to say and how to approach it. “I know our agreement states you will provide for my needs during our courtship. My practical side knows it is essential, if I am to accompany you to necessary functions. I will need…well… I’m not sure what items I will need, but I know it is likely an extensive wardrobe. I doubt sincerely my salary would cover it.…This is hard…but Ellamora suggested that I should tell you. In the Aboveground a woman who accepts numerous expensive gifts from a man she has yet to marry is not thought of well. She is believed to be a gold digger. It doesn’t help that in these situations, it is usually a younger woman and an older man.”

Jareth threw back his head and laughed. “I am certainly older than you, but I do not think you are a digger of gold, My Sweet.” He pulled her close and thought for a moment. “This is an issue that bothers you, so I propose this: we shall both attempt to be reasonable. Me, by reining in my normal desire to shower you with gifts. You, by remembering that you will need many items for our courtship to proceed in the accustomed fashion. It may help if you keep in mind that in the Underground it is expected that the male provide for his potential mate. If I, as King of the Goblins, did not, it would bring doubt upon the stability of my Kingdom. There would be whispers that it had grown shoddy under my management and my coffers depleted to the point that the possible future Queen is not shown the respect her position demands?”

“I never thought there would be political ramifications. So…when you put it that way...” Sarah huffed out a breath. “I will do my best.”

“And so, shall I.” He caressed her cheek.

“You’re very different from the Goblin King of six years ago. I understand why Toby was confused. For the record, the man before me now is the superior version.” Sarah clasped her hands gently behind his neck.

“Possibly because back then my persona was influenced by the expectations of a fifteen-year-old girl whose greatest desire was an adventure that led to defeating a fairytale villain.” He suggested with his arms around her waist. 

“I…ah…possibly,” Sarah agreed. “But what is it I am after now?” she teased.

“More kisses. We will see where they lead.” He nibbled at her lip and felt her breathing increase. “Though I plan to save your screams for a time when we are not in the open as we are now.” He looked every inch a wicked sorcerer, planning to ravish an innocent maiden. Her eyes dilated in response to his words and his touch. “But I would not mind a few more of those extremely alluring moans of yours.” Jareth’s mouth had just covered hers when his body reverberated with the ancient call of the Goblin Kings. A child had been wished away. 

“What’s wrong?” Sarah immediately sensed tension in his body. His muscles were on alert.

“I…” He knew this would come sooner or later, best it happened now. It would surely be a true test of what was to come for them. “I am sorry, My Sweet, but I must leave.”

He snapped his fingers to break the soundproofing spell and a moment later stood beside the swing. The blonde Fae was outfitted in the full battle armor of The Goblin King. The wind increased. It sent his black cloak ruffling out behind him and his hair swirling about his perfect face.

“Oh,” Sarah’s mouth dropped open. He looked exactly as she remembered him, right down to the the haughty expression. She quickly stood at his side.

“Precious, you’ve always known this is part of who I am.” Jareth looked down his finely chiseled nose and maintained cool strength. His duty as King and Emperor had to come first. In this case even above the woman he loved. The Underground depended on him. “You have always known.”

“Hush,” she soothed with a gentle hand against his lips. She stood on her toes and kissed his arrogant mouth. “Be safe in the world of iron. If you can, let me know when you have returned. I will worry less.”

“Sweet, you disarm me.” He returned her kiss adding a spell for calming sleep that night. “Go to Corramar, if you wish in the morning. You will be safe there, but do not venture to the pond you enjoy so. It is too near the maze. Tell Toby that I will reschedule his time with the cleaners.” He kissed her again. “I have tarried long enough, Precious.”

“Just don’t dance with any pouty teenaged-girls in a peach dream.” Sarah called out as the wind increased. A laugh caressed her ears. Before she could respond Jareth was gone and a large white owl called out to her as he rode air currents high above her head. He rose higher with quick flaps of strong wings until he was silhouetted against a moon that turned orange as he disappeared. 

“Oh my, that’s what it looks like when he crosses-over,” Sarah’s heart pounded and her hands trembled. She leaned against the support structure of the rocker-swing and contemplated what had happened. It only took her an instant to know that her reaction was honest. Her worry for the Fae King she loved far outweighed any for a possible runner in the Labyrinth.

She yawned, suddenly feeling very tired and headed into the cottage.   
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah woke to an eerie orange glow cast by the rising sun and reflected by the setting moon. It was painfully familiar. She stood on her tip toes as she looked out the window to see into the distance. Usually she could see the tops of the spires of the Goblin City and Castle Beyond, but this morning the whole area was covered in haze.

“What’s going on?” Sleepy-eyed Toby joined his sister. “It looks strange out there.”

“I believe that is a signal that there is a wisher-away in the Labyrinth.”

“Oh,” He looked her in the eyes to be sure she was all right. “It’s okay you know. It’s not like…well you know.” Toby whispered and accepted the squeeze he received from his sister. 

“I do,” she smiled gently. It was as close as they would get to talking about what she had done in the past. She was relieved to see for herself that it did not bother him. “You and your friends have to stay home today, though your community service will be rescheduled.”

“I’m glad we aren’t going in there today. It looks creepy out.”

“It does.” Thinking back six years ago, Sarah remembered the hill above the Labyrinth had the same orangish glow, but not the Maze. It supported her theory that the strange coloring was a warning to stay out of the Labyrinth.

“What’s this.” Toby picked up the leather thong with a small crystal dangling from it. His sister had left it on the little square table between their beds.

“It’s a protection spell from His Highness. That one is for you.” Sarah pointed before pulling hers out from under the collar of her nightgown. “He gave them to me last night. Once you’ve had it on for a few hours, it doesn’t matter if you wear the charm or not, you are protected by his magic.”

“That’s cool.” Toby quickly put it over his head and dropped the crystal under his sleep shirt. “King Jareth is the best.”

“I am rather fond of him.” Sarah laughed at the understatement.

“I guess.” Toby rolled his eyes. It was so good to hear his sister laughing again.

“Do you want the bathing room first?” She asked as she gathered her clothes for work. “I’m going to check on Magic, Jareth said it is safe. 

Before the boy could answer a deep almost inaudible gong sounded. Sarah felt the sound vibrate in her bones. It wasn’t painful, just strange. Orange tinged sunlight evaporated and the morning was sparkling and bright.

She quickly calculated how many hours had passed and nibbled her lower lip in worry. “It’s too soon. It hasn’t been thirteen hours since the Goblin King was called.”

Moments later someone knocked on Ellamora’s front door.

Sarah pulled her dove-gray cape over her nightgown and went down the ladder as fast as she could. 

“Lord Galen.” She greeted the Fae standing in Ellamora’s doorway.

“Lady Sarah,” he bowed in respect due her elevated status, since the courtship documents had been signed. “I realize mine is not the face you were hoping to see.”

“Just tell me that he is safe.” Sarah felt Ellamora’s arm around her waist and was glad for the support.

“His Highness is tired, and would have come to you, but he had one final duty. He is taking the little girl to her new home. He requested that I assure you of his wellbeing and relay his invitation for dinner at eight tonight.”

“Dinner sounds like a wonderful idea.” She smiled softly, her eyes bright with joy. “Wait…what happened? The runner wasn’t in the Labyrinth for thirteen hours? Are you allowed to tell me anything?”

“You would hear of it anyway. I think gossip travels on the air currents.” The king’s aide was suddenly all business. “You are very astute. The woman did not complete her time. She had been traveling in circles for hours in the outer maze, when she came upon Agnus the Junk Lady. An argument ensued and escalated. It was necessary for His Majesty to intervene. Because of the physical nature of the attack, the mother forfeited her remaining hours and was sent home immediately.” 

“Is Agnus going to be all right?” Ellamora worried. She knew Goblins were almost indestructible, as were most of the Labyrinth residents. But the odd injury arose every few hundred years.

“She received some scratches, a few bites and there was some hair pulling, but the Junk Woman gave as good as she got. His Highness saw to it that she was left with a supply of healing tea. I believe Agnus is resting in her home entertaining her friends with tales of taking on the evil wisher-away.” Galen told his mother-in-law.  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After spending the morning with Magic and Moonbeam, Sarah had lunch with the Dowager Queen.

“I am very happy for you.” Livia beamed with joy. They ate cool fruit soup and dainty sandwiches filled with savory vegetable pâté.

“I’m not sure what is expected of me. In my—where I grew up, our version of courting wasn’t as involved as it is here.” The dark-haired girl fretted. “I’m used to taking care of myself and making my own decisions. I know customs are different here and I don’t want to embarrass him.”

“You will be fine. The dinner party I am giving in five days is the formal announcement of your courtship. Your official invitation is likely waiting for you at home, though Jareth has accepted on your behalf.”

“He has?” Sarah’s brows rose in surprise. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“I realize this is happening quickly.” The Dowager Queen read irritation in the girl’s eyes. “In the normal course of events the two of you would have gone to the same social events over the last months or even years. It wouldn’t take hostesses long to notice that the King of the Goblins was squiring you about the dancefloor more often than the one-dance protocol required of him. It would progress so that when one of you would arrived at a gathering, your eyes would seek out the other’s. Not long after, the two of you would be seen having quiet private conversations in discrete corners of crowded rooms.”

“Is that how it was for you, when you moved toward courtship with King Mesmer?” Sarah felt a lump form in her throat at the description of a couple falling in love as the Underground watched. It swept away most of her annoyance at Jareth’s high-handed attitude.

“Yes,” Livia’s eyes sparkled, but no tears fell. “I was young, fifteen. It was my first year in society. He was High Prince of the Goblins, heir to the throne. We took one look at each other and never looked at another. It was very romantic. I’m sorry you and Jareth missed the experience.”

“Instead, I literally fell into the Labyrinth and attracted the attention of the King.” She thought over the times they had been seen together. “Am I causing gossip?”

“Not you.” The Fae smiled gently at the young Human. “My son tends to cause talk wherever he goes. His has a stubborn nature and has refused to give any of the coy maidens who eye his titles and lands a second glance. It has ruffled a few feathers, though I am in total agreement with him.”

“I’m stubborn, as well.” Sarah smiled when a solution presented itself. “Your Highness, Livia, Dowager Queen of the Goblins, I gladly accept your invitation to the courtship party you are giving in five days.”

“Oh, my dear, I can see what attracted him to you in the first place. Your will is as strong as his.” She laughed in delight. “Please do not be hard on him about not telling you sooner. It would have been presumptuous to begin arrangements until papers were signed and he was summoned very soon after.”

“I know.” Sarah plucked her protection charm from under the bodice of her dress. “He gave me this and one for my brother. Then we ran out of time.” Touching the delicate crystal made her feel close to Jareth. Unbeknownst to her, her face shone with joy. “He is the King of the Goblins. I know that despite all else, his duties come first.”

“You appear to understand the Royal and the Fae. As his mother and one of his subjects that makes me very happy.” Livia saw Sarah’s cheeks shimmer at thoughts of Jareth. “It is good to see he is taking proper care of you.” The Dowager Queen nodded toward the pendent and hid her smile behind her tea cup as she realized the double meaning of her words. “But there are some things that spells and magic will not shield. Careful planning and resourceful political maneuvers can ease an unusual situation.” Jareth’s mother advised. “Lord Galen posted the papers last night, so the Underground has been informed. It will establish the two of you as an official couple.”

“It would have been better if we had gone the route you and King Mesmer did?” Sarah’s voice was filled with disappointment. 

“Not better, just different. My son has a reputation for being slightly unconventional.” She shrugged. “Besides, what’s done is done. You and Jareth will have time alone until after the dinner. I realize it is only five days, but you won’t have an audience as you move through the first tentative steps of being a couple. As romantic as my experience was, yours will be far easier. After the party, there will be a great many who wish to curry favor by entertaining His Highness and the lady he is courting.”

“Ok, all right,” Sarah nodded and refused to be overcome by the odd formal rules of dating a male of her choice, or the fact that her pride was slightly dented because he had spoken for both of them. “I can do this.” She raised her chin in determination. “I will do this.”

“I believe you can do anything you set your mind to.” The older Fae woman was very happy with her son’s choice. “It is important to remember that once all the entertaining starts it can put a stress on courting, especially among royalty. When an irritant occurs, don’t consider it a setback, simply deal with it and get on to the next task. As much as the Underground looks and feels like a fairytale to new arrivals, it is also real life.”

“You’re right.” The dark-haired young woman looked amazed. “That makes so much sense. There is a saying in the Above: ‘take things one day at a time’. I like to add another to that: ‘plan carefully for possible contingencies and then put them aside and don’t worry’.”

“Excellent, advice.” Livia nodded in agreement. “One more important adage, which is unique to the Underground: ‘do not confuse magic with power’. The words are often used interchangeably but in the most important sense, one has nothing to do with the other.” 

“Hmm,” Sarah listened carefully to what she was being told. “Very interesting and helpful.”

“I would like to help you begin to build your arsenal of power.” The Dowager Queen stated. “Tomorrow is rest day. My dressmakers are coming the day after to go over specifications for my gown for the party. I invite you join us. You need some things and I can aid in making decisions, you if you like. That would normally be your mother’s job, but I’ll gladly stand in her stead.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. You’re very considerate of my situation and it means a great deal. Karen, Toby’s mom, my step-mother would have loved to be present for what is happening. She always worried that I was letting life pass me by, that I wasn’t dating, looking for a wonderful man.”

“She didn’t realize you’d already found him.” Livia said softly.

“Ah…well…sure,” the dark-haired Human tripped over her words. “Karen knew, but never understood that I cared for the characters in my books, especially my favorite fairytale.” She was not going to admit anything, though she was almost positive that Jareth had confided in his mother.

Livia nodded her head in agreement at the young woman’s wise choice of words. “And what of your real mother?”

“The woman who gave birth to me left when I was not much older than Toby is now. It was hard at the time, but as I matured, I understood it was for the best.” Sarah shrugged, not wanting to speak badly of Linda who had died in a car accident two years earlier. “In a way it helps me understand why bringing wished-away children here is a good thing. Not everyone is meant to be a parent and I think sometimes they don’t realize it until it is too late. It is better for a child to be with a family who loves and cares for him or her. My father always made me feel loved and once I stopped fighting, and let Karen in, so did she.

“For someone so young, you are a very wise woman, Sarah Williams.”   
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your Royal Highness, you honor my home with your presence.” Ellamora curtsied as she opened the door for him. Sarah stood behind the Elf’s shoulder, wide-eyed and beautiful. A split second of surprise crossed her face, before the dark-haired girl remembered Underground etiquette and swept into a deep curtsy.

“Mistress Kilhaggen, Lady Sarah, and Master Tobias,” the King acknowledged the residents of the cottage with a slight bow, but couldn’t take his eyes off the young woman he’d come to see. “Are you ready, My Sweet?”

All she could do was nod as he put his arm around her and led her from the house after wishing the Elf and the boy a good evening. Sarah was filled with relief. Given Jareth’s flamboyant style, she had no idea how he would dress for their dinner. When he’d walked in the door wearing simple dark breeches, boots and an ivory shirt, it made her heart thunder with joy.

Before they left the yard, Jareth took a moment to cocoon them in a discretion spell that was specific to the two of them. They could speak to others and be heard, but when conversing together no words would escape the barrier. “We may speak freely all evening. The spell will last until I bring you home.” He explained as he put both arms around her for transporting.

Seconds later Sarah felt firm marble flooring under her feet instead of grass and gave the Goblin King an enthusiastic hug. “Thank you. You remembered that my closet is rather bare and you dressed according.” Toby had warned her about soldiers guarding the King, but she had forgotten and pulled back when she saw two tall Goblins standing at attention. 

“Pay them no mind.” Jareth indicated their small audience. “They are magically bound to never speak of anything learned while in service to their King, so you may hug me if you wish.” He opened his arms and she stepped into them. “You look lovely, no matter your apparel. We will have many evenings for formal attire, tonight is just for us.” He ran his forefinger down her check and enjoyed the feel of her silky skin.

“It’s my best dress.” She admitted. The finely-woven deep green cotton made her eyes sparkle like emeralds. “Ellamora has been teaching me the art of tailoring, but until recently, I’ve been more concerned about Toby’s needs than mine. He’s at Corramar’s village school five days a week. And young boys are rougher on their clothes than adults.”

“Over the years, I’ve found joy in thinking of you wearing those unusual Aboveground blue breaches people of your realm are so fond of. As a girl of fifteen, they were very complimentary to your figure. Now you would be delectable.” He scrutinized her slim form from head to toe. 

“Thank you.” She felt her cheeks turning rosy with a blush no matter how much she fought it. “I’m not used to compliments like that, but I find I enjoy them from you.” Her eyes flutter and she refused to shy away. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but the pair I was wearing when Toby and I escaped were damaged beyond repair.”

“What a pity.” Magically produced clothing tended to falter when least expected, but it might be worthwhile to try his hand at reproducing those Aboveground breaches. It could be interesting, very interesting indeed. “The males of your old world may not have commented on your lovely form within your hearing, but I am sure it was on their minds.”

Sarah decided two could play that game, vary glad the guards could not hear what she was saying, even if they could see. She strolled casually around the King of the Goblins. Her eyes lingering on the small of his back where it met his well-shaped behind. “You are right, it is a pity that jeans aren’t available here. You would look very fine in a them.” 

“Come,” he reached for her hand. “We should eat before you seduce me in the main entrance hall of my castle.”

“But…but, I am an innocent maiden and you are the all-powerful Goblin King.” She fluttered her lashed and grinned, enjoying their light banter. “How could I possibly…”

“Do not defy me.” He uttered words from long ago, but tonight his smile was enticing instead of malicious. 

“When you put it that way.” Laughter danced in her eyes. “Which way to dinner?”  
 ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They ate in his private dining room. Conversation flowed easily, free in the knowledge no one would overhear them. Sarah had many questions about what the next few weeks would entail. She was nervous but determined and he was very proud of her.

“We will be fine.” He slowly ran his gloved fingers over her left hand when she inadvertently gripped the edge of the table.

“That is what your mother said.” She sighed.

“The Dowager Queen is a very wise woman and skilled in political tactics despite her country widow facade.” It pleased Jareth that his mother was showing support for Sarah. “Would you like to see what the castle really looks like? The spell I used tonight accompanies us.”

“That would be great.” Sarah took the arm he offered and they left the dining room. She’d had a quick view of the changes a few days before when he had brought her to see that the Escher room was intact. That peek had not prepared her for vast transformations in a building she had thought she knew. 

“It is different from how you imagined it in your youth.” He grinned at her as they entered a two-story library. The Goblin King closed the door, leaving their entourage of two armed soldiers at in the hall.

She gazed in awe at Jareth’s huge collection of books. Comfortable reading chairs were placed strategically about the room alone and in groups. There were work tables and glass fronted cases that held ancient tomes and maps. “I never imagined a room like this. I would have been surprised to find so much as one book when I was fifteen. I really misjudged you.”

“Since I am neither The Beast nor Prince Charming, you pictured a scoundrel with magic at his fingertips.” He mused. “But it would be hard to be a heroine when even the Beast appears gentle because he is well-read, thus my castle contained no library.”

“Scoundrel…Hmmm?” Sarah grinned, thinking of the sexy kiss Princess Leia received from Han Solo when they worked on the Millennium Falcon after their escape from the ice planet Hoth. “That might have some interesting side benefits.” 

“Don’t forget, Sweet. In order to carry out one of my most important duties there must be a bit of wicked within me.” He reminded her. His life was real, and scoundrel or not, he had responsibilities.

“Once upon a time I may have believed that was all you were.” She thought for a moment to gather her right words. “You are the King of the Goblins. Ruling your lands and subjects takes courage, strength, and determination. Dealing with wished-away children and the people who wish them away is a task many would find arduous and often repugnant.” Sarah cupped his cheek as he looked at her with eyes that gave nothing away. “I have seen you in difficult situations and you have seen me at my worst. We came out the better for it. The rest does not matter.” 

Jareth leaned in, running his hands through her hair. His lips so close they moved against her brow as he spoke. “You are truly my Chosen One to understand me so well.” 

She rested against him and enjoyed the feel of his body pressed against hers.

Jareth kissed her once more before they reluctantly disentangled. “I have something to show you.” He nodded toward a set of glass doors at the end of the room. 

“That isn’t a very original line.” Sarah gave him a flirtatious side-long look in hopes it would get her an intense kiss like the night before.

“My Sweet, you wound me.” He placed his hand on his chest as if bleeding from the heart. “I am the Goblin King and am nothing, if not original. I brought you this way to show you a special garden. Or perhaps there was something else you would rather…examine.” He growled.

“Your Highness, are you trifling with my affections?”

“No, Precious, I am most serious about them.” He led her out onto the darkened stone-patio. As the doors closed behind them he pulled her close and kissed her soundly.

As he held her in his arms with his lips covering hers, Sarah slowly melted, against him. “Hmmm,” she sighed and slipped wide-spread fingers, through his fine blonde hair. 

When his right hand slid against her cheek to pull her closer, she realized his gloves had vanished. Her skin tingled at his touch. His left arm supported her head while his tongue swirled with hers. She ran her free hand against silk that cover the strong lean muscles of his back.

“You taste of the peach liqueur we had after dinner. Don’t let this be a dream.” She begged and gasped for breath.

“No dream, Precious, I promise.” He kissed her slowly but didn’t deepen it this time. 

She rested against him, letting him support her weight, relieved that her days of waking and discovering her happiness had all been an invention of her sleeping mind were over.

“Turn around.” Jareth held her elbows once she turned and pulled her tight against his chest. “This garden blooms only at night.” He informed her while he nibbled at her ear.

“The fragrance is wonderful, but not overpowering.”

“There are plants from all over the Underground. It is only during the coldest months that the garden lays dormant.” He turned slightly and pointed upward. “Those windows and patio high above are part of my private chambers. Magic as old as the Underground is ensconced in this section of the castle and its grounds. It has protected generations of Goblin Kings and Queens as they slept and relaxed. That is the reason there are no guards posted at this entrance.”

“Did you have this garden planted below your windows on purpose?” Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off the area above.

“Over the generations various Goblin Kings and Queens have added an item or two that caught their fancy.” He watched her watch his windows and balcony and could almost see her thoughts. “But six years ago, I was given incentive to have the gardeners put more vigor into the endeavor. What you see now is tripled the size of the one that existed.”

“The timing is curious.” She murmured and pulled her gaze from above to meet his eyes.

“I would say it was auspicious, My Sweet.” His words pored over her like warm honey. “On warm summer nights, the scent from below drifts upward. It is a wonderful way to fall asleep.” 

“I’m sure.” Sarah’s voice was husky as she imagined sleeping in his arms while they were bathed in the gentle perfume from below. “Is that an invitation?”

“Not for tonight. I can tell by the look in your eyes that the idea excites you, but you are not ready yet.” Jareth held close with his chin resting on the top of her head. “We have waited this long. A few more days, even a few weeks is a tiny span of time compared to forever.”

“You’re correct.” Her voice was low and gravelly with desire. “But you make me feel things I never even imagined.” 

“Good, that means I will be in your thoughts, like you are in mine.” He kissed her forehead and opened the door. “There is one more room I would like to show you and I think you will find it most interesting.”

Down a long hall from the library and around a corner there were a series of large double doors. Jareth opened one set, and instructed his guards to stay in the corridor. He pulled a crystal from the air and tossed it high above them. As glitter sprinkled down, candlelight from five massive chandeliers glowed bright despite the high ceilings. 

“A ballroom.” Sarah gasped in delight, though a tiny piece of her wished she was dressed more formally. She turned around and around trying to see everything at once. “It’s amazing.” Dark wood flooring shone. One long wall was covered in floor to ceiling mirrors the opposite contained large windowed-doors. “Where do they lead to?”

“They open onto a large walled-patio above the public lawns and gardens. In good weather they can retract to enlarge the room, or be left closed so couples can sneak out for a private tryst. We are not going out there tonight because I am not confident in my resolve.”

“I promise not to lead you astray.” She laughed feeling the best she’d felt in years.

“Ahhh but you see, I can not make the same promise.” Jareth moved closer to kiss her again, when he suddenly stopped. “Sarah?” he ran his right forefinger over her cheek.

“What? Do I have food on my face?”

“No, come here.” The Jareth held her hand as they walked to the closest mirror. He guided her in front of him so she was inches away from their images. “What do you see?” 

She looked up and met his eyes in the looking glass. “A beautiful Fae King who takes my breath away.”

“Look again, this time at my Precious One.” He requested as he kissed her shoulder.

Sarah surveyed her image, but wasn’t sure what he wanted her to see. Her eyes looked bigger than usual, but she attributed that to finally getting rid of the dark smudges that marked her sleepless night. Maybe there was something to the expression ‘beauty sleep’. 

She tilted her chin to the right and then the left, raised her head, exposing her neck and then lowered it to see her forehead. Her reflection told her that her hair looked as good as it had when she combed it after dressing…she really needed to thank Ellamora for that great shampoo. Whatever herbs it contained had repaired all the fire damage and made the dark brown masses look thick and heavy. Her skin was pale, but she’d been avoiding the sun… “Oh,” She gasped when she finally understood what he wanted her to see. “That can’t be.” She ran her finger over her cheekbones and above her eyelids. The skin in both areas was luminous, with a sheen that almost sparkled. “Did that rub off from you, when we were kissing?”

“No, it is you, all you. It is the outward sign of your magic. As your powers grow there will be more changes. It is apparent you have accepted the Underground, just as it accepted you long ago. It does not rub off.”

“Wow.” She stood there for a few moments simply staring at her reflection. “Is that why my hair is different too?” Sarah laughed with delight. “I’ve been giving Ellamora’s herbs credit for that.”

“Knowing the medicinal abilities, she has, I wouldn’t be surprised if her potions helped ease your body’s acceptance of the physical changes it is, and will, go through.” He ran his hands through her dark tresses.

“When did this happen?” Sarah was still stunned. Granted her mirror was tiny, but she looked into it each morning after brushing her hair.

“This is the first I have seen changes that I can definitely attribute to the touch of the Labyrinth. You’ve been looking healthier as you recover from the terror and loss you went through. I surmise the changes occurred first on the inside. When you first returned, they happened slowly but then you relaxed and accepted that magic was within your reach.” He thought, and tried to picture Sarah over the last few days. “This evening when I saw you standing behind Mistress Kilhaggen at her door, my first thought was that you looked radiant. I attributed your glow to happiness.”

“I am happy. The day you showed me the puzzle room opened a door.” She turned in his arms trying to grasp the changes. “That was the day I let you in and the soul numbing grief I’d been carrying began to ease. But it wasn’t that long ago.”

“In the time since then, you have been present when a unicorn mated. You have spent over thirteen hours in The Valley of the Moon, a place known as a bedrock of ancient powers and is in close proximity to dragons. And last night you entered into a courtship agreement with a Fae King. Any one of those activities could have given you a large dose of magic. Combine all three and it is no wonder you have developing at an accelerated rate.”

“Do I have to worry about losing control and harming someone?”

“No,” he smiled. “Powers in my Kingdom are restricted by the rules my great-great-grandfather laid down. If you are not a citizen, or still maturing, magic can grow and you can be instructed in its use, but you are only capable of small harmless spells until the King sets it free.”

“That’s a relief.”

“This calls for a celebration.” Jareth pulled a crystal out of the air and ran it over his ungloved hands and wrists. He threw it to the floor and magic filled the room. 

Suddenly there was music. 

“May I have this dance, Lady Sarah?” Jareth bowed, brushing his lips against the back of her hand, and looked up at her with a knowing grin.

“Yes, Your Highness.” She curtsied and stepped into his arms while imagining she was dressed in a lovely gown she’d seen in the window at Bloomingdales not long before the fire. When they took their first steps, Sarah felt a shiver down her back. “What…what…” she gasped as she looked down. Gone was the simple green cotton and it was replaced by the one Sarah had wanted to wear. A slim column of deep green silk flowed softly from the top of her breasts to her waste. The skirt flared over hips, becoming fuller as it continued to the floor where it brushed the tops of a pair of silver high heels. Her arms and shoulder were bare except for tiny straps. “How did you know about this dress?” She was thankful there were no poufy sleeves with multiple layers of skirts like the dress that had been a fifteen-year-old’s dream. Instead she looked like a woman.

“Not I, Precious. That is your magic.” He gave her a mischievous looked. “Since you insist on donning formal attire, it is only fair that I join you. Some glitter swirled around him and he was outfitted much as he had been in that ballroom so long ago.

As she moved, the green silk clung gently to her curves. When she twirled in a circle the skirt flowed outward, swished elegantly about her until she laughed with joy. “I didn’t know…How did I…?” Suddenly her magic gown changed into the cotton she’d been wearing. “Oh, no.” Disappointment was evident in her tone. She concentrated on her clothes, but unsure how it had happened in the first place, was only able to cause her attire to flicker between the silk and the cotton. 

“You are very new at this and magicked clothes sometimes have a mind of their own. Once you are adept at it, it is wiser to pull something from your wardrobe and change in a blink of an eye as I have just done. Would you like my assistance in maintaining the spell?” The King asked. When she nodded in approval he placed his hand on her shoulder, dusting glitter from his fingers to add his magic to hers. The beautiful silk creation stabilized. 

“Thank you.”

“Shall we dance, Sweet? Your dress is amazing.” He put his arms around her and led them in a waltz. Sarah laughed when she realized that he intended to make full use of the entire room. She longed to see her reflection in the mirrors as they moved passed, to a see what she had created, but was too unsure of her dancing to look. “Will you teach me how to do this?” Green eyes met mismatched ones.

“Instruct you about which? Magic, dancing, or…loving.” 

“All of the above.” She whispered.

“We shall start with dancing tonight, Sweet, though you seem to be doing very well without lessons. The magic will take some work, but you have an instinct for it.” As they began down the long side of the room covered in crystal doors he added. “You must promise not to put a chair through the glass and escape this time.”

“I do not want to escape.” She lay her head on his shoulder and let him lead her where he wished.


	11. Courtship of the Goblin King - Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a bit of M rated activity.
> 
> This chapter went longer than anticipated, but I wanted to establish some backstory that helped fill out my vision of the Underground

****

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Ellamora pulled berry scones out of her cooker. Sarah brewed morning tea. Toby arranged the table with a pot of sweet yellow butter, jam, small plates, and spreading knives they needed for their breakfast. It was Rest-Day and they had all slept in a bit. The kitchen was filled with warm light, and laughter as the dark-haired young woman regaled them with tales of the night before.

“Then he took me to his ballroom and…well…when we started to dance, a clear image of a dress I’d admired a few months ago popped into my mind. The next think I knew, I was wearing it. Just that quick.” She snapped her fingers. “My magic chose that moment to appear and created this magnificent gown I’d seen when shopping.” 

“Wow, enchanted clothes.” Her brother was impressed. He had noticed the slight changes in her complexion when they got up, but it was nothing compared to the idea that she could actually make things appear and disappear. “That sounds great.”

“Not so much, Big Guy.” Sarah giggled. “The new gown lasted about a minute before it changed back. No matter how hard I concentrated, it kept flipping from the silk to the cotton and back again. Jareth offered to help and added a bit of glitter to my shoulder. With his assistance, everything mostly stayed in place. Though a few times he’d give me this odd grin.” She wanted to say endearing, but didn’t want to embarrass her brother. “Then he’d twitch a finger and a few sparkly specks landed me. We just kept on dancing with me in a Aboveground designer ballgown.”

“Oh, my dear, my dear,” the elderly Elf was laughing so hard she had to blink away tears. “If His Highness had magicked the outfit on his own, it would have remained until he undid the spell. His abilities are among the strongest in the history of the Underground. Instead he supported your powers, and gave you a lesson at the same time. You’re changing and it sounds like it is all for the good.”

“It was quite the experience. I’m just glad it happened when we were alone.” Sarah poured tea and passed around cups as they sat at the table.

“You learned your first rule about dealing with magic and had fun doing it.” Ellamora nodded knowingly and handed Toby the basket of warm scones. “There’s a legend from before the folk of power moved to the Underground. Don’t know if it is true, but I always keep it in mind when I’m tempted to take a shortcut with my sewing. There was a ruler who thought magic was the end-all-be-all. He had all his clothes made that way. Cloth and thread weren’t to touch his skin. One day when he was walking through the streets of town, his outfit just disappeared. He ended up naked as the day he was born, and never new it.”

“ _‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’_ ,” the Williams siblings spoke at once.

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes” Toby laughed. His sister hummed and nodded in agreement since she’d just taken a bite of scone. “It’s a fairytale from Above.

After she chewed and swallowed she asked. “Are there other things that I should worry about?” This magic business was going to be harder than she thought.

“Mostly it depends on how much power a being’s got and if they decide to use it.” Ellamora shrugged. “Two items most everyone is careful about are clothes and food. The issues with edibles are that they taste bland, and lack nutrients to sustain life. You make something out of nothing and that is what you’ll ingest. Course there are some who change vegetables into a tastier form to avoid an argument with their child. Most of those items maintain their life-giving value. Though a body could be half-way through dinner and suddenly everything changes back to what it was originally.” She humped. “I never took the easy way out. A child needs to learn, not be tricked or lied to.”

“That’s why when you cook you use real food, tea, and herbs?” Sarah wondered.

“Yes, and I enjoy putting meals together for folks and mixing potions. But the clean up, I’ll let magic take care of that.” She looked around her tidy kitchen as they ate. “When I retired, Her Highness added some of her power to this cottage. I’ve got some of my own, but I never used them much, so they didn’t develop to their full potential.”

“Can magic set the table and and not harm the food?” Toby asked, since that was his job everytime they ate.

“Just moving things around doesn’t do any harm. But if I let the cottage do all the work, young man, you’d never learn how to do it. A body needs to be able to make a bed, and keep his room in order. I’ve put cooking on your to-do list when you’re a bit more settled.”

Their breakfast was interrupted by a knock on the front door.

“Hoggle,” Toby greeted the Dwarf with joy, glad to get Ellamora’s mind off all the things she wanted to teach him. 

“Mistress Kilhaggen, Master Toby, Lady Sarah.” The little man nodded to them, gripping his hat nervously in his hands. 

“Would you care for some breakfast?” The Elf offered.

“That’s right kind of yous, but I’s wondered if Lady Sarah could go for a bit of a walk.”

“May we take a scone with us?” Sarah asked.

“Sure can.” The elderly being handed one to each, as they headed out the door. “Enjoy.”

Hoggle took a special path he knew that began near the cottage. Five minutes later they were at his post by the large entrance doors to the great maze. “I don’t gots no discretion spells likes His Majesty, so’s this is the place ta talk. T’aint no one around here. Too early for them damn pixie-fairies and we‘ll get plenty a warnin’ if a runner’s comin’ our ways.”

She looked around in amazement. “Toby and I walked for hours and hours when we came up by the sundial. I never realized Ellamora’s was so close.” 

“It tain’t near at all, but there be shortcuts all over the place cause of the Labyrinth.” Hoggle used his chin to point to the wooded area where they’d just been. “The start and finish to any of the hidden paths that lead to the maze stay the same. It’s the middle that changes a might. Somedays it takes five steps and sometimes all day. I’s came this way ta see yous this morning, so I knows it would get us here right quick.”

Sarah took in the information but knew a discussion of geography wasn’t why they were here. “I’m sorry I didn’t contact you yesterday, or even when Toby was meeting with Jareth to make our courtship official.” She plucked at the seam of her dress. “You deserved to hear it from me. You’re my friend.” 

“Don’t worrys your pretty head ‘bout it.” He smiled and patted her hand. “In the mornin’ light I’s can see changes been goin’ on.” The dwarf watched the sun sparkle off her cheekbones and eyelids. “I come ta check for myself that yous okay with what’s happenin’. He’s cared about yous for years and that Fae has some tricks up his sleeve.”

“He isn’t tricking me.” She smiled softly. “I love him, Hoggle.” Sarah sat on a large rock near her friend. “I always have. Back then, I messed up badly.”

“Naw ya didn’t. Ya did what ya thought ya had to do ta get your brother back.” His tried to encourage her. “’Sides for a Human girl from Above, yous was awful young.”

“At the end when I told him he had no power over me, I lied. But I thought I had to say it to save Tobes. And you’re right, I was too young to understand what he was asking and how he made me feel.”

“We’s figured as much. Me, Ludo, and Didymus’d seen yous cryin’ from our side a the mirror, but ya never called us after that first night. We’d have set it right with Jareth for yous and yous woudn’ta hurt anymore.”

“I was afraid to contact you.” Her voice crackled with pain. “I thought I killed your King.”

“You couldn’t a killed him, not unless yous had iron on ya and we checked, all of us did.” The Dwarf shook his head at all the time that had been wasted. “Don’t yous worry no more, Little Lady, what’s done is done. Yous here and gets to be happy now.” He pulled back because she held out her arms to give him a hug. “No yous don’t. Jareth loves you but he still scares me. But that’s for us men folk to work out.” He shook his head as Sarah rolled her eyes. “We’s both want you happy.”

“I’ll always love you as my first friend in the Underground.” She smiled and gently patted his gnarled hand. “I am so happy that you and the others are good to Toby.”

“He’s your brother, Lady Sarah, and we been watchin’ over him since you went away to that strange school. We ain’t gonna stop now. Sides he’s fun.” The Dwarf snickered. “He reminds me a yous when yous was young.”

“Please don’t let him get into the trouble I got into.” She eyed the Labyrinth with pleasure and doubt.

“We’s will do our best, but you gots to remember he’s a boy.” Hoggle laughed as she began to sputter about girls being just as adventurous as the males of the species. “We needs ta get back Little Lady. Dydimus, Ludo and me are meetin’ Toby, Mortimer, and Quentin to go fishin.” He rubbed his hands together with glee at the thought of fryin up his fresh catch for dinner.

Sarah enjoyed the morning of Rest-Day in the company of friends and family. Jareth was coming to Ellamora’s for dinner and the next day she would meet the the Dowager Queen’s seamstresses. She decided that this courtship business wasn’t so bad, blissfully unaware that her name was being mentioned in homes and estates throughout the Underground. Livia’s dinner party invitations had arrived.  
****

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Lady Marilee smiled softly over her morning tea. Ellamora, her mother, was full-blooded Elf though her father was Fae. When it came to matters of the heart her Elf side rang true and clear. It was evident to her that the King had found his Chosen One and she was very happy for them. Galen wasn’t as cheerful as his wife. He liked Sarah and Toby, but was well aware that Livia’s party was extremely important to the political outcome of the match.  
 ****

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Lord Sedgwick Dennimar and Lady Rhea, his wife, waved to their son Mort and his group of friends before closing themselves into her sitting room. This time they took the precaution of casting a discretion spell. Their past carelessness could damage the family name they’d worked so hard to repair. It was considered careless and rude to allow one’s staff to overhear gossip, especially about the King and they had done so.

“They are an odd bunch, but Mortimer is certainly happy.” Rhea watched out the window as the group disappeared into the woods, armed with fishing poles and a picnic basket.

“They certainly are.” Sedgwick sighed wishing he’d been allowed such freedoms as a child. “King Jareth was correct when he said that group epitomized life in the Goblin Kingdom, especially when young Maia is along.”

“Different beings living in harmony. We were wrong to try and interfere.” His wife said what was on both their minds.

“About that, unless you take issue, I you plan to stand with His Majesty should problems arise. I want to put to rest, once and for all, the strife my grandfather created between our family and the royal house.” Sedgwick read over the wording of the invitation one more time. “I’d like to knew if His Highness really cares for the young Human or if he is simply tired of interfering suggestions from the High Court and this is his way of thumbing his nose at them.” 

“Considering his parents that question should be easy.” Rhea sighed. As a girl, she’d been very taken with Mesmer and Livia romantic natures. “King Jareth had his wilder days in his youth. He had his moments even after he took the throne. But in the last decade or so he hasn’t taken a lover with the exception of an occasional minor interlude.”

“Of course, he has.” Her husband insisted. “He is Fae, after all. His Majesty simply learned to be discrete for the good of the Kingdom.”

“No one is that discrete, not even the Goblin King. You forget that women boast when they’ve caught the attention of an eligible bachelor. I choose to believe he cares for her.” Lady Dennimar announced. “One look and anyone can see she is taken with him. In fact, I think he met her on one of his trips Above. Who else has the magical strength to leave a portal where it doesn’t belong. A portal that Lady Sarah and her brother were able to use to escape when their home was attacked.” She crossed her arms and gave her head one emphatic nod. “And I think it is as romantic as his parents’ story.”

“My dear, when did you get old-fashioned religion?” He grinned at his wife and put his arm around her. “They say passion is more intense when one believes.” Sedgwick whispered in Rhea’s ear. The couple had always cared deeply for one another, but could never quite let go and embrace the old ways. “Mort will be gone for at least another hour-and-a-half, shall we experiment?” He offered his hand to his wife and laughed. 

“Only if you keep the discretion spell in place, Wick.” Rhea’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she added the neck name she used for her husband during their most intimate moments. 

“Are you planning on being naughty?”

“Only if you let me get away with it.”  
****

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Duke Aiden of Montash and his wife, Duchess Tomlin, had been traveling with their daughter Lady Enya. They had been gone for three weeks attending the wedding of his twin brother, Ryan. Second pregnancies were unheard of when both parents were full blood Fae, but occasionally twins would be born. The Duke was eight minutes older than his brother. Due to the inheritance laws of their Dutchy those few minutes left the younger son with almost nothing, once he was of age.

“It was a nice enough wedding. More importantly it will see your brother well situated in life, even if he had to wed an Elf to accomplish it.”  
“I’m just relieved Ryan finally gave up wondering.” Aiden had always looked down his nose at his twin’s life aboard a cargo ship that traveled to all corners of the Underground. It didn’t matter that the younger had been an officer on a vessel he’d eventually had part ownership; it was because his brother had to deal with the most unsavory characters. 

Lady Tomlin sipped her morning tea. She had married the brother with the title and ancestral lands. It made her feel superior to her new sister-on-law in every way possible. The bride had a large estate, with farmland surrounding it, but it hardly counted since it was in Elvish Territory. “I am glad to be home. I had trouble sleeping with the irritating sound of wind blowing through those retched fields.”

“Elves are spinners of dreams. The flax they grow is a very lucrative and important crop.” Aiden dug through the stack of papers that had piled up in his absence and pulled out a dazzling roll of parchment. “This bears the Dowager Queen’s seal. It appears to be an invitation.”

“Open that first.” His wife insisted. “Enya and King Jareth are smitten. It will be another chance for them to be seen together in public without causing talk.”

The Earl had his doubts. The Goblin King and his daughter had only met at social events. Unlike his wife and child, he was under no delusions about His Highness. If the King had been interested in Enya, courtship papers would have been signed long ago. The Duchess and their daughter had manipulated the King of the Goblins into an extra dance at the last party and gods help him the Duke had used his influence as a member of the High Court to apply pressure on the Monarch to wed. It was a misuse of power that he did not plan to repeat. At the time he’d been desperate to gain peace in his home.

Aiden unrolled the invitation and read. He was unsure if he should laugh or cry at the news. Whatever his reaction, he would keep it to himself.

“Well?” his wife demanded.

“It’s a party. Read for yourself.” He handed over the scroll and waited for the explosion.

“No,” Tomlin gasped. She blinked and read the information a second time. “How can he do such a thing and with a Human.” She demanded and sniffed as if smelling something foul. 

“Momma what is the fuss about?” A tall slim Fae female yawn as she joined her parents for breakfast. Eyna was exquisite, even first thing in the morning. Despite her height she appeared delicate due to fine bones. Her blonde hair hung to her waist in curls, accenting flawless skin with a hint of sparkle that spoke of magic. But it was her eyes that everyone noticed first. They were the blue of a clear spring day. 

The Duke had often mused that it was unfortunate that her mental capacity didn’t live up to her stunning looks. If it did, she would have been married off her first season in society.

“Oh, my Treasure, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Jareth has been unfaithful.”

“What?” Enya clasped her hands as tears filled her eyes. She was so sure she was making progress.

“Livia is---” The Duchess began.

“Stop.” Aiden interrupted his wife. “Just stop this nonsense now. You will address the royal family by their titles even in the privacy of our home.” He insisted. “I have no idea what the two of you have been up to, but it will stop immediately. His Highness has made his choice and from the look of this invitation the girl has the Dowager Queen’s approval, not an easy thing to acquire. There will be no funny business.” He could tell it would be a difficult week, his daughter would be in tears and his wife angry. 

“But daddy, he…he…”

“His Majesty…” He corrected his daughter.

“His Majesty,” she gulped. “I was led to believe…” she bit her lower lip in apprehension. “King Jareth was the reason I ended my relationship with Count Morgan.” Enya had realized the parentally approved affair she and the Count were involved in was not going to lead to marriage. He had become bored and his attention began to wander. She had ended things to save face. At her mother’s urging she’d set her sights on the Goblin King. 

Enya had been thrilled when she’d been out riding one day and happened to cross paths with the King. A little maneuvering and she’d managed to entice him by that small waterfall and pond near the great maze. It had given her the orgasm of her life when she thought about being addressed as Queen and adding some of the power of the Labyrinth to hers. But as hard as she tried, she had been unable to lure him into a repeat performance. In fact, the more effort she put into the endeavour, the cooler he’d treated her.

“The courtesan documents I signed on your behalf did not mention His Highness.” The Duke’s brows rose and his face was stern. “You do realize they are not transferable? Once one relationship ends, you may not simply substitute another.”

“Of course, she knows that, Aiden.” The Duchess ground her teeth when she thought about the status that had slipped through her fingers all because of some newly arrived Human. “King Jareth must have seduced our darling daughter or worse, taken advantage of a woman alone. Given his powers he could take any woman he wanted.”

“As is his right as absolute sovereign. He has never exercised that power and neither did his father or grandfather. If he changed his mind, there are documents that we would have signed in order for a sanctioned liaison to take place. Speak now child, did he treat you improperly? If he did I will file a complaint before the High Court.” He could see his wife nodding at their daughter, encouraging her to speak against their ruler. 

Enya’s eyes sparked with pride. The idea that a being, even one as magically strong as Jareth, would force her was absurd. “No father.” Her eyes and voice hardened. “Our moment of passion was outside the bounds of society. And that made it all the more delightful.” Her chin rose and she dared either parent to find fault. “It was a lovely afternoon and he chose me, as I did him. I wanted to be Queen.” 

“Have you asked yourself what he wanted.” Her father glared, unsure if he should be proud of his daughter or embarrassed.

“Oh, my poor baby, he used you to satisfy his desires.” Tomlin gasped.

“I didn’t feel used, I felt sated and given his parents reputation, I was trying to make him fall in love me.” 

“He is a Fae Lord.” The Duke’s words ground out. “Fae do not love, no matter what delusions the Dowager Queen uses to keep warm at night.” A long time ago, he’d had his eye on Livia the debutant, but it had done him no good, once she met Prince Mesmer. “Pleasure is what is important. His Highness has always been discrete about these things. If you are careful and do not call attention to your misguided intimacy, you may yet come out of it with your reputation intact.”

“My reputation, what about his. Why can men enter into a dalliance with no repercussions, but a woman can’t.” Enya lost her temper. 

As a male who was able to pick and choose females all his life, he’d never given any thought to his daughters complaint and saw no reason to now. “The custom is an old one but it is for your protection that signed documents are necessary for a woman. When a babe is born everyone knows who the mother is. Marriage defines the father as her husband. Relationship papers do the same. When a woman gets with child and there is no male sectioned as parent, who is to claim and provide for the babe?”

“But we were careful.” Enya insisted. The King was not her first unsanctioned lover, but he was the most talented.

“I am sure His Majesty was. If he were careless about anything, he wouldn’t last long in his position. Can you say the same thing, my girl? Have you always used a protection spell?” From the look on her face, he knew the answer was no. He made note to add a stipulation of conception prevention into any papers he signed for her unless they led directly to marriage. By the Seven Crystals of Oberon he was not going to have a nameless bastard in the family.

“What about me, what about what I want?” The blonde girl demanded refusing to answer her father’s question.

“Enough.” The Duke’s patience was at an end. “Can you honestly tell me you want to marry the Goblin King? With royalty your fidelity is bound by magic and your marriage is forever. It is the only way to protect the line of succession.” He and his wife had been discrete, but both had had numerous lovers during their marriage. It happened with most couples. Once an heir was produced and the line secure husband and wife did as they pleased.

“I want to be Queen. I want more power.” She glared at her father. “He is handsome and…” she smiled when she remembered how he made her feel. “And he…well he has skills.”

“Apply yourself to the the study of magic and your powers will increase. You are my heir and will inherent all that I own, including my title one day. It matters not that you are female. Some of your friends are not so lucky. You will have to settle for being a Duchess, since there are no other Fae kings that I know of.” 

“Do I inherited your seat on the High Court?” If she did, she would interfere in Jareth’s life every chance she got in the future.

“No, that must be earned. While you are refreshing your studies on magic, you should check into law and general studies, as well.”  
****

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Jareth has spent a good part of his Rest-Day catching up on paperwork that had been put aside over the last week. Dealing with Moonbeam had taken time he should have spent at his desk and when the unicorn was finally snoozing happily with his mate, the Goblin King had been called away to deal with a wisher-away.

Just as he’d been about to take off for the afternoon, he’d had an unexpected visit from Lord Sedgwick Dennimar. 

“Your Highness, I know I didn’t have an appointment, but I would like a few minutes of your time.”

“Be seated.” Jareth pointed to the chair opposite his at the desk.

“Lady Rhea and I received the Dowager Queen’s invitation this morning.” He smiled at the thought of his wife. “We would like to offer our congratulations, Sir.”

“Thank you and please tell your lady-wife I appreciate her kind words as well.” The King watched the man across from him and thought he’d never seen him look happier. It put him on alert for a possible trap.

“We also owe you an apology, Your Highness, Rhea and I were not as careful with a discretion spell as we should have been and one of my stewards overheard us reviewing the problem with the boys. It caused some gossip, but will not happen again. I have decided not to reprimand the man because it might bring more attention to a subject than is necessary.”

“I appreciate your honesty.” Jareth studied Sedgwick carefully looking for hidden meanings to his words and found none. “My aide Lord Galen keeps me well informed. It would be unseemly for me to interfere in the running of your household when no real damage was done. It appears you have the matter well in hand.”

“Yes, Sir.” He took a deep breath and jumped into the real reason for his visit. “My father sat on the High Court and disgraced the name of Dennimar. When I inherited, I chose to retire to my estates so no further damage was done. But I still maintained old alliances and am not without some influence. Your Highness, if you should have any difficulties in the future.” Sedgwick cleared his throat and gracefully sidestepped the issue of a Fae King courting a Human. “If there are any problems at all, be assured my fealty is to you, Jareth King of the Goblins. I am not my father and am tired of carrying the burden of two generations of dishonor.”

“I am proud to call you friend.” The King rose, bringing the Lord to his feet. “You were among the young nobles who followed me in the Battle of Stone Valley. Our victory did not come without cost, but it was thorough. The Dwarf invaders were driven away and you helped me bring my father’s body home.” Jareth remembered it like yesterday. He had ridden out of base camp a Prince and sadly returned a King. 

The men bowed to one another as past comrades-in-arms. Jareth planned to watch the situation carefully, but it appeared some magic had been worked to heal old wounds.

Lord Dennimar looked surprised as an old memory fell into place. “The Dwarf, Hoggle, who is right now fishing with Young Tobias, Mort, and Quent, his father was the one who warned us of the ambush.”

“Yes, he was King Mesmer’s guide for the so-called peace talks that were really a trap. We would have died as he and his escort did, if Hoggle, Sr. hadn’t been mistaken for a wounded dwarf soldier and escaped to get word to us of the army that was heading our way.”

“That is the battle that cost Sir Didymus his eye.” Dennimar recalled. “He swore an oath to never trust a Dwarf again. Your Majesty, you have powers that I never imagined possible to create a friendship between those two and when you add in the Rock Conjurer, it is truly amazing.” his Lordship bowed to the power that stood before him.

“Well,” Jareth shrugged casually. He couldn’t give Sarah the credit she deserved, since no one knew she’d been in the Underground at the time the link was formed. “They all reside in the Labyrinth. Unusual things happen there. Hoggle lives near the gate, Didymus has taken to guarding the bridge over the Bog since he lost his sense of smell, but refused to retire. The Conjurer wanders about terrorizing runners and making friends with children.”

“As I say, a feat of great power.” Sedgwick bowed to his King one last time and left the castle with a spring in his step.  
****

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That night after dining with Sarah at Ellamora’s cottage Jareth took her to Glitter Cove.

They materialized on a beach filled with soft white sand. It was wedged between tall cliffs and a crescent shaped bay with gently rippling waves. The black sky was filled with stars. At first look it appeared as if the they were reflected in the water. After watching closely, the young Human realized the lights were from below. “Are they fish of some kind? They don’t look like they move about.”

“They are a living creature, a combination of mineral and animal. They glow to attract tiny fish and other small sea creatures to feed upon. Since they can’t move, dinner comes to them. The ancients called them Sea Lights and the name has stuck.”

“They are gorgeous. Aboveground has something similar. It’s called coral. I think there are kinds that reflect light, but these appear to produce their own.”

“They do indeed. Let’s sit for a while.” Jareth held out his hand and led Sarah to small protected area near the cliffs. He took off his cloak and put it on the sand before plucking Sarah off her feet and laying her on the strong silky material.

“I was wondering if you’d ever get around to kissing me tonight.” She smiled up at him and ran her palm against his cheek.

“You have earned many kisses today.” The king was dressed in black silk shirt and black breeches. He leaned close and nibbled on his loves ear.

“I’ve earned them.” She laughed. “Just how did I do that?” She liked the pressure of his legs pressed against the side of hers and the feel of his upper body leaning over her.

“You’ve been working your magic again.” He kissed his way up her neck and placed his left hand against her ribs so his thumb dragged the material of her lavender dress over her nipple.

“What…ohhhhhh…yes…what…magic.” She finally got the words out by covering his hand with hers. That caressing thumb had been driving her crazy.

The Goblin King rested his head on his right hand as he lay on the cape they shared. The sand was warm beneath them and they were protected from most of the night breeze that increased as the moon rose. “You have created another alliance. Lord Dennimar came to my office today and pledge his loyalty to his King. That would be me.”

“I didn’t do that.” She insisted. “It’s your doing. You’re a good king.”

“Yes, and I was a good king yesterday and many years before. Sedgwick Dennimar proved his allegiance to the Kingdom when we fought in a battle that drove Dwarf invaders from our realm and retrieved my father’s body. But never in the two hundred years since, has he stated that he was faithful to the Goblin King, until today. That Precious is your doing.”

He leaned into her and covered her mouth with his before she could ask more questions. Their tongues danced and bodies strained. Her soft places fit perfectly with his more muscular ones. Hands moved to explore and fasteners were ripped.

“I want you. Make love to me, Goblin King.” Sarah begged. Any thought of magic was lost in way he made her feel.

“I want you as well, My Sweet.” Jareth held her tight to keep her in place. “We should wait until after the party.” He suggested and covered her with his body as both tried to catch their breath. “Once I have you, I won’t be able to let you go.” He placed her wondering hands above her head and pressed them gently into the sand. “You need to have a better idea of what you are getting into. If you still want me after facing down a crowd of Fae, Elves, changed Humans, and all the politics involved, I will make you mine.”

“Kiss me some more,” Sarah’s voice was thick with desire.

“You drive a dangerous bargain, my Lady.” He leaned in pressing her into the sand. The way she touched him played havoc with his determination, so this time he stretching her hands above her head and trapping them in place with magic. Jareth slid back to straddle her waist, with his hands on his hips, his eyes feasted on his Chosen One. She was desire personified: her nipples were hard tips pressed against the material of her dress; her lips were damp and swollen from kisses already received; her eye lids heavy with want; her lovely dark hair mussed, begging him to touch. “Let’s sweeten the deal,” he smiled lazily. “Just a small taste to remind you what you will miss, if the party goes array and you contemplate changing your mind.”

Sarah moan and bucked beneath him wanting anything he would give her. She’d lost the ability to form coherent sentences when his mismatched eyes drifted over her.

“I take that as a yes, My Lady.” He whispered.

Still unable to gather words that made sense, she shook her head in agreement.

“Good, My Sweet.” He held gloveless palms not quite touching her breasts. He let his power tease through the material.

“Ohhhh…” Sarah groaned. She arched her back attempting to put pressure on nipples that vibrated from his almost touch. Each time she did tried to get closer, he drew his hands away until she lay down. “Please, Jareth,” she shook with desire.

“Since you ask so nicely.” He leaned forward and kissed her. He cupped her breasts and creasing them as his mouth played with hers. It took all his effort not to vanish her clothes.

He pulled his lips from hers and offered. “Maybe another tiny taste, since this pleases you so much.” His words flowed over her like warm honey.

Jareth stretched out beside her and slid his left arm under her back, causing it to arch seductively. Since her wrists where still pinned in place, it brought her right breast against his cheek. He he turned slightly to suck and nibble through the cloth. The Goblin King’s right hand slid her legs apart, locking them magically in place and slowly raised her skirt. Sarah was so lost in the feel of is teeth and mouth on her breast that she didn’t realize what was going on below until she felt the cool sea breeze against naked inner thighs.

“Yes, now Jareth.” Her muscles tighten in need as she babbled and begged, feeling things she only imagined were possible. “Please.” 

“Shhhh, easy, Precious.” He reassured, unable to take his eyes off her passion filled face. Just watching and touching her brought his need almost to the breaking point, so he slowed down for both of them. 

“I don’t want to take it easy.” She snarled and rocked her hips deliberately brushing against him. If he was going to drive her insane with need she would so the same to him.

“There’s my wild thing, who beat my Labyrinth and tormented its King for years after.” Jareth went back to nibbling on her right breast while his right hand pressed into her stomach to trap her hips. Once she was magically caught in place he rotated his palm in small circles, exciting the skin and making her muscles quiver. He applied a spell to prevent conception in case he lost control as he pleasured her. Long sensitive fingers slid downward, under her panties until they found her tiny bud of nerve endings. His gloveless hand sent magic coursing everyplace they touched.

Sarah was gasping and began to shake. Jareth brought his thumb against his forefinger with the nerve endings caught between. He squeezed. Tingling ricocheted through Sarah, overloading her as he bit gently down on her nipple. 

His hips moved as if they had a mind of their own. They pressed and rubbed against her side. Needing, needing so much as lightening struck them from the inside out.

Sarah screamed and called out his name over and over. Intense feelings shook her body and she burst into tears of pleasure and joy. His completion followed seconds after hers. Filled with happiness magic quickly cleaned them up and arrange their clothes neatly in place.

“Are you hurt?” he was still our of breath as he ran his hands in her hair and up and down her back while she wrapped her arms and legs around him. “Were the magical restraints too much?” 

“No, I trust you.” Her voice was hoarse from gasping in pleasure. “Everything was wonderful, but you can’t possibly…” she didn’t have the words. “I mean, I don’t want to take without giving.” Sarah reached for the front of his breeches and discover his abdomen flat and the material dry.

“You did take care of me, Sweet.” He kissed her gently. “Magic comes in handy with small messes.”

She giggled against his neck and felt her heartrate begin to return to normal. Her only sorrow was that she’d missed looking into his eye during his climax. She’d been too involved in hers.

“I was rewarded with your screams much sooner than expected.” He laughed in delight. 

“I did not scream.” She insisted. 

“My Dear, if I thought I could repeat our experience without giving into your allure and taking you right here on the sand, I would be sure you heard and remembered them.”

“You think I’m alluring?” Sarah was surprised. 

“Never doubt it.” Jareth cupped her cheeks and kissed her until her head spun.

The Goblin King had been with a goodly number of females but none had been as sensitive to his touch as his Sarah nor he to hers. He’d fought and often doubted his decision to wait for her. Now he had his reward, a life filled with indestructible love and ardent passion.  
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days flew while nights dragged for Sarah. She was aware that people where talking about her, but did her best to ignore it.

The tiny taste of desire that Jareth had given her hadn’t satiated her need for him but intensified it. At times it made thinking straight a difficult task. Sleep was almost impossible, especially since most nights, when she climbed into bed, her lips were still warm and swollen from his kisses.

She spent time with Magic and Moonbeam every morning, but since their mating all they would let her do was groom them or watch them munch grass in the pasture. She did her job as best she could. Despite missing the close relationship she’d had with the small brown horse she understood the mere’s need to be left alone with her mate. 

The day after Rest-Day, Sarah met with Livia, and her two Seamstress. Nola was Fae of indeterminate age and Bree was her daughter and apprentice. The two worked quickly and expertly. Their job made easier by Rinda a young Goblin maid from the Dowager Queen’s household. All five females spent hours in Her Highness’s sitting rooms that day. 

“I’ve never had clothes made for me before, except the few items Ellamora Kilhaggen has been teaching me to sew. It was either that or wear fire damaged items from Above.” Sarah was overwhelmed by cloth samples, styles, and lists that kept getting longer. Jareth’s mother insisted more and more things were necessary to get through the next two months of courtship.

“It seems like an enormous wardrobe, because you’re starting from the beginning. Since you are so new you lack everything but the most basic essentials.” Bree wasn’t sure how she felt about a Human fresh from Above, but the woman was courting the Goblin King and appeared friendly. “Momma and I started working on things for my courtship at least six months ago, eventhough Sam and I aren’t allowed to even think about courting until we complete our apprenticeships. We have to wait another ten months.”

“You needn’t worry Lady Sarah, we will have your courtship dress completed and all necessary garments to accompany it ready the day before Her Highness’s party, as well as a few other gowns and day dresses. Within ten days your wardrobes and cupboards will be filled to capacity with new outfits. Some of my fellow seamstresses have volunteered their help. We owe King Jareth a great deal.” She looked at her daughter with eyes filled with love. “It is a pleasure to assist his Lady.” 

“Thank you so much.” Sarah realized that sixteen-year-old Bree must be a wished away child. It tugged at her heart to see another example of the good the Goblin King did.  
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jareth and Sarah sat on the swing-rocker to watch the sunset from Ellamora’s front yard. The King, as was his habit, had spun a discretion spell to give them privacy. He had arrived after dinner due to a meeting with the head of the Goblin Army, General Sir Reginald Fitzhugh, II and General Lord Keefe, Commander of the elite Royal Guardsmen.

“You had a meeting with the head of that army that Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, and I were able to break though to storm your castle?”

“No,” He laughed in delight. “Keep in mind that when you were here before, things were not always what they seemed. The troops you battled that day were a small group kept for the specific purpose of confusing and delaying wishers-away. If you had been up against my real army, you would have been either killed or capture before you could open the city gate.”

“That explains why I never see those little guys anywhere. They weren’t very organized. When they couldn’t keep us out, I wondered why you hadn’t been invaded years ago.” Sarah reached for his ungloved right hand. “It worried me even then.”

“Magic keeps my kingdom and its territories safe.” He pulled her into his arms and rested her head against his shoulder. “It is the same with the other kingdoms. One of the High Court’s main jobs is to mediate should problems arise. A war between regions of power would be disastrous to all of the Underground. It is the beings who lack magic that can be a problem. During my reign there has been no need for me to add my strengths to my army’s fighting skills.”

“The Goblin Army and The Royal Guardsmen are seen everywhere but magic is invisible.” Sarah added. “The Goblin Kingdom’s perceived power is one thing while it’s real is something completely different”

His Highness laughed and kissed her. “That is the idea. I believe one of your leaders said, ‘walk softly and carry powerful crystals’.”

“Big stick, not powerful crystals.” She jabbed him lightly in the ribs. “And if there was any real danger you would zap them before your troops could saddle their horses.”

“To each his own weapon.” Jareth caressed her cheek. “You are tired, My Sweet. Did I keep you up too late last night and sap your energy?”

“It was the Dowager Queen and her seamstresses who wore me out. After the first hour I lost track of all the different designs and material. I was very glad for your mother’s help. It was daunting, all those choices at once and often for things I wasn’t sure how or when to wear.” Sarah sighed and leaned completely against him. “You did not tire me.”

“Hmmm, I must have been doing something wrong.” He teased.

“You did not and you know it.” She kissed his jaw and moved tighter against him. “Last night was wonderful and I was hoping we could have a tiny repeat. The pond and waterfall aren’t far from here. We would have privacy there.”

Jareth was in a quandary as how to answer. He finally took the wisest course: the truth. “I would enjoy your suggestion very much, but I am hesitant to take you there for an assignation, since I have been there with others.”

“Oh…I never thought about that.” She caught her breath. “Of course, you’re Fae… You explained that you fought against believing, and for a long while didn’t…It wouldn’t matter if you believed or not. You are an adult and have been so since long before I was born. I hardly expected you to be inexperienced.” She pasted a smile on her face. Her stomach turned because up until a moment ago she had loved that little spot and had often dreamed of making love to him in the pool and on the soft flowering grass. “What about the cove last night?” The words stuck in her throat.

“It belongs to only us.” He assured her. “Do you understand why I spoke about the pond? I have lived a full life for centuries and am not apologizing for it.” Jareth hated that he was the reason she had a stricken look on her face. “You are special to me. I don’t want any past affairs or dalliances to echo around us as I pleasure your body and fill heart.”

“I never expected…just because I have never been with another.” She shook her head knowing she wasn’t making any sense. “I love you Jareth. I’ve always assumed there were others in your past, but never gave it much thought.

“I haven’t taken any of them in my bed or anyplace in the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. That I saved for the one who would be my Queen.” Jareth cupped her cheeks and looked her in her lovely eyes as he spoke. He wished he could tell her that it was because he saved those places for her, Sarah Williams his Chosen One, but it would only be the truth over the last two decades and even then he had doubts. It was due to the respect owed the female who would one day rule beside him and bear his child.

“We were together at the pond before. It was the just before you showed me the Escher room. That was a good day. It was the start of so many changes for me. I’d rather remember that, than the fact you’ve had other lover there. Maybe, we can exorcize your past from that place and any others in the Underground. If you never brought of your…ah…interludes home, it might put restrictions on where we could be intimate.” She kissed him determined to wipe any other female from his mind.  
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next days were filled with activity. Sarah spent time with Magic every morning. She and Galen worked on the necessary paperwork to make the Williams siblings citizens. She made a point of watching the King when he oversaw grievances one afternoon. From her hidden spot in a balcony high above the throne room it thrilled her to see how well he handled his subjects. It made her realize just how many different types of beings populated the Goblin Kingdom.

Mixed in to what she would have considered a normal day, were dress fittings. Each time Sarah left Nola and Bree’s neat home her head spun at the amount of work that was being completed.

“Are you sure there is no magic going into these clothes.” She asked Bree after trying on five outfits complete with undergarments. Granted many of the items were only basted but Sarah who took forever to sew on a button was amazed.

“Very sure, My Lady.” Bree laughed, enjoying time spent with the woman from Above. “Mama’s powers are in creating designs on paper and mine are slight. I can transport small items, but nothing of any size or weight. It is very handy when I forget where I have placed my thread or thimble. I simply call it to hand.” She demonstrated by opening her left hand and both items appeared in her palm. “It does not effect them since they were only moved by magic.”

Every evening Jareth and Sarah spent time together. There had been no repeats of the evening on the beach, mainly because the King was taking no chances. He’d come too close to making love to his Chosen One that night. He’d been telling her the truth when he said once he made love to her he would be unable to set her free despite what was in their agreement. 

They spent their time talking, holding hands and enjoying restrained kisses. He found out that Sarah had decided not to be an actress after being in his Labyrinth. She had realized that acting had been a bid to gain her mother’s attention, to give them common ground. It wasn’t what the fifteen-year-old really wanted. She’d believed what she wanted most, returning to the Underground, was out of reach, so she had studied hard to keep her options open. In the end she’d decided to help people and majored in psychology. It took a while for Jareth to understood what she had been studying, but when he did, he believed it was a perfect fit. 

He told her about the Battle of Stone Valley, about his father’s death and the pain of becoming King much younger than was expected. He also told her about the part Sir Didymus and Hoggle’s father played in the victory for the Goblin Territories. 

Jareth reserved an hour everyday to work with Sarah on magic. So far she’d been unable to transport, move, or make anything appear or dissappear. He was more convinced than ever that her powers lay in dealing with beings. It was much like her Aboveground schooling. She cared about those around her and others could feel it deep in their bones. Her abilities went beyond simple friendships. She created bonds that could cement realms for generations.

Sarah was not so positive about her abilities or inabilities as she called them. She was frustrated and would have doubted that she was anything but a regular Human if it weren’t for the prominent Fae coloring that became more visible everyday.  
****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night finally arrived. Rinda assisted Sarah as she dressed for the Dowager Queen’s dinner party. They were in the large guest room the girl has occupied once before at Corramar.

Though no sound was heard from below, the main floor was bustling with activity. Long tables were in place and each setting was rechecked. The dining steward walking around the room with a large parchment in hand to be sure seating cards were as Her Highness had directed. The large kitchen was a center of activity. The head housekeeper and butler were checking and double checking every server’s uniform. Lights were lit on the lawns and paths ready for arriving guest.

Livia, dressed in a rose-colored ballgown of antique silk, was doing a final check of floral arrangements. She hadn’t given a party this size in over two-hundred years. It was gratifying to know she hadn’t lost her touch. She went into her downstairs sitting room for one last moment of peace until the festivities were over. At her desk, the Dowager Queen picked up a small oval portrait of her husband. “My dear you would be so proud of our son.” She whispered. “Not only is he a good king, be did as we did. His wait was far longer and harder than ours. But Sarah was worth it. She is a good woman and Human, newly arrived from the Above,” she chuckled lightly. “She loves our Jareth deeply and is as stubborn as he. You would be very pleased with the match. I'll miss you beside me tonight, but my gown is the color you favor me in. You are in my heart.” She blinked a stray tear away, put down the image of Mesmer and exited the room, locking her private area magically.

“Don’t pull the stays too tight or I won’t be able to breathe.” Sarah was having problems catching her breath due to nerves. “On the bright side, wearing this thing I won’t have to worry about my posture.” She giggled at her silliness and found it helped relieve some anxiety. 

“Miss Bree made sure I could do it right, My Lady. Miss Nola designed the dress knowing you were unused to corsets.” The little Goblin was thrilled to be a real lady’s maid, if only for one night. She’d helped the dark-haired Human once before and had been in on most of the fittings at Her Highness’s instructions. “Now the dress, Miss Sarah.” Rinda climbed a step stool to reach the fantastic sapphire creation Nola had delivered early that morning. “Hold onto the dressing table and I’ll help ya step into it. Then I’ll do your hair.” As she’d been talking, she helped Sarah into the dress and reached for the button hook she would need to fasten the closers that run almost next to one another from between Sarah’s shoulders, down her back, too below her waist.

“Wow,” Sarah looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The deep sapphire made her skin glow. The material had the drape and weight of one of Irene’s favorite evening dresses, but lacked the distinctive weave patter that was typical of brocade. The corset below made her appear far slimmer than she believed she was, while pushing up her breasts and giving them support at the same time. The neckline dropped in a V, showing off some cleavage, and held her firmly in place. The skirt flared out from just below her slim waist and would hit the tops of her shoes. Jareth had sent the footwear over that afternoon. They appeared to be made of one of his magic crystals, but he had assured her they weren’t. Though when she slipped them on her feet, each gently cradled and supported her arch, her toes had plenty of room despite the height of the stiletto heels. They were unbelievably comfortable. 

Half an hour later Rinda had Sarah’s hair piled on her head in intricate braids. Small wispy curls dangled here and there softening the formal style. “There ya go, My Lady. No need for make-up the way your magic is showing.”

There was a knock on the door and Marilee came in carrying a large leather case. “These are for you from King Jareth. You look fantastic.”

“So, do you. With your fair skin and white blonde hair light pink is perfect for you.” Sarah admired her friend and tried to ignore her sinking feelings about the contents of the box. “What’s in there?”

“A present for you from His Highness.” Lady Marilee flipped open the lid and the contents sparkled with diamonds and, sapphires. “And they’re gorgeous.” She hadn’t peeked after the King given them to her, as much as she’d wanted to. These now belonged to Sarah and she should be the first to see them.

Sarah gasped in dismay and Rinda in delight.

“His Highness asked that I remind you that this is one of the times it is necessary.” The half-elf wasn’t sure what the message meant, but it soothed the Human who was looking more and more Fae as the days passed. 

“Tell him thank you. Am I supposed to wear them all? I don’t want to be to…ah…flashy. Understand what I mean?”

“Indeed, I do.” Marilee laughed and took a moment to look though the box. “They will be perfect. After you and Toby make your entrance, you will be on the arm of the Goblin King. He would not have been remiss to include a tiara, small, but a tiara none the less.” 

While the Ladies were talking the Goblin had reached into the case and pulled out a number of diamonds. Each stone was attached to a twisted platinum wire. She wound them one-by-one into Sarah’s hair, until it looked like stars had landed among the brunette strands.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Sarah glared and finally realized her friend was teasing her. “That was a joke, right?”

“Those are far lovelier than a tiara.” Galen’s wife pointed to the reflection in the dressing table mirror. “The King has impeccable taste and I think he knows you well enough to realize you are no quite ready for a crown, even a small one. Maybe I should have brought you a glass of champagne after all. I didn’t because I remembered how I felt when I was dressing for my courtship dinner.” 

“Smart move, between the gown, the shoes, and nerves, I’ll have all I can do to stay steady when Toby and I are announced.” She shook her head. “Is my brother ok?”

“He’s fine. Mama handed him over to my husband when the men arrived. He’s adorable in his formal clothes, especially the vest that matches your gown.” Marilee kept talking while the maid placed dangle earrings that dripped diamonds and sapphires in Sarah’s ears.

“Oh my,” Sarah blinked at her reflection as the weight of the matching necklace settled around her throat. Diamonds and sapphires incrusted an intricate platinum design. The simple style of her dress was a perfect foil for the fancy jewelry. Marilee was correct, it was perfect.

Rinda left the ladies alone and Sarah had time to relax. “Did I understand you correctly. Did you say my brother has a vest made out of the same material as my gown?”

“Yes, and King Jareth as well. It symbolizes your family’s approval of the male who is courting you.”

“Falling in love it much easier in the Aboveground.” Sarah declared.

“But would you have as much fun?” Her friend countered.

“If I was there, I wouldn’t have him, so no,” The dark-haired woman shook her head and fought to keep tears from forming. “No, I wouldn’t be having any fun at all.”


End file.
